Financial Transparency Coalition

NEW DELHI – Stung by the opposition charge that it hasn’t taken enough steps to crack down on corruption and black money, the government today said it had adopted a five-fold strategy to tackle the generation and circulation of black money.

The recent events in Tunisia and Egypt have demonstrated the power of citizens who won’t endure corrupt governments any longer. Their call for accountable and transparent leadership to ensure an equal distribution of public goods was heard around the world. In France, the UK and Switzerland governments heeded calls to freeze and investigate the assets of ex-president of Tunisia Ben Ali and ex-president of Egypt Hosni Mubarak and their families. There should be no impunity for those who wield power for their own benefit and not for their people. The international community...

OK, it seems a bit premature to be thinking about Mexico’s G20 before we’re anywhere near November 2011 and Paris. But there are good reasons to start thinking about 2012 – and good reasons to think that it could be the first G20 that puts financial integrity and the combating of illicit flows right up front and centre. There are important measures that can be pursued in 2011, and pressure must be maintained on President Sarkozy to deliver concrete actions to back his administration’s strong words on the damage done by secrecy in tax havens. With luck, however, the French...

An article the other week in the Ugandan Daily Monitor quotes an official from the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), Mr. Patrick Mukiibi, on the value and implications of illicit flows from that country. According to the article, Uganda loses UGX 2 trillion (approx. USD 866 million) annually through “tax crime”, also termed “economic and tax fraud”. The Ugandan Ministry of Finance says that the current fiscal year (2010/2011) government budget is UGX 7.5 trillion (approx. USD 3.2 billion), and it will need loans and other development assistance to cover 26 percent of this. In other words, the article...