Financial Transparency Coalition

In 2010 Congress enacted the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which aims to combat tax evasion by U.S. citizens holding investments in offshore accounts. Under this law, the IRS and the U.S. Department of the Treasury require U.S. taxpayers holding financial assets on foreign soil to report those assets. FATCA also requires foreign financial institutions to report certain information about U.S. taxpayers directly to the IRS. The law phases these requirements in several stages. Starting in 2013, the IRS will require participating banks to conduct due diligence for identifying new and pre-existing U.S. accounts and reporting requirements will...

If Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling before August 2nd, there will be an economic Armageddon. In the overwhelming majority of cases, I’m opposed to this sort of sensationalist statement. American politics has become far too wrapped up in overstating the consequences of a particular moment, occurrence, or action. Even economists, who as a general rule are a pretty levelheaded bunch, have exhibited a strong tendency to sound sensational over the last few years. The reason for this, partly, is that the Great Recession has brought with it a series of critical economic moments that really have required swift and...

Statement by Secretary Geithner at the G-20 Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in St. Andrews, Scotland.

Good afternoon. My thanks and compliments to Chancellor Darling and his team for hosting this meeting. The United States looks forward to welcoming the Prime Minister and the Chancellor to Pittsburgh, along with the Leaders and Finance Ministers of the G-20, in just a few weeks.