Financial Transparency Coalition

On several occasions we have written about a report produced by the Oxford Centre for Business Taxation, which is critical of estimates of illicit flows and other offshore-related phenomena published by TJN and its colleagues. Professor Michael Devereux of the Centre has replied in the Financial Times to an earlier letter from TJN and its partners. Devereux’s riposte says little of interest, but accuses us of seeking “to spread innuendo about the messenger rather than to engage in constructive debate about the research” – without noting that the letters page of a newspaper – ours was just...

UBS AG (UBS) should pay U.S. taxes on 52,000 secret accounts held by American citizens in Switzerland as part of a settlement to a high-profile legal case between the bank and U.S. tax authorities, according to Washington-based Global Financial Integrity.

ZURICH (Reuters) - Investors bet on Thursday the United States would not go as far as shutting down UBS AG (UBSN.VX) there in a tax dispute, instead expecting the Swiss bank to be hit by a hefty fine as part of a swift out-of-court settlement.

Task Force member Global Financial Integrity echoed the sentiments of other civil society organizations today, including Task Force member Tax Justice Network, in condemning the harassment of Cameroonian journalist Jean-Bosco Talle for his part in fighting corruption in the West African nation. From GFI's statement:

Following publication of the report “Biens mal acquis” or “Ill-Gotten Gains,” by the French non-profit organization Catholic Committee against Hunger and for Development (CCFD) last month, Mr. Talla, editor of the Cameroonian newspaper Germinal, has been harassed and his life has been threatened. The report presents estimates for...