Financial Transparency Coalition

In March 2009, during the run-up to the G-20 Summit in London, activists from all over Europe visited the British Channel Island of Jersey to highlight the role of tax havens in the global crisis.

I hope people have noted I’m not a great fan of Tax Information Exchange Agreements. The basic reason is that they are virtually impossible to use. As the standard TIEA makes clear, a TIEA request must provide or state: (a) the identity of the person under examination or investigation; (b) what information is sought; (c) the tax purpose for which it is sought; (d) the grounds for believing that the information requested is held within the jurisdiction of which request is made; (e) to the extent known, the name and address of any person believed to be in possession of the requested information. The reason...

There was an awfully genteel protest organised by the Tax Justice Network in Jersey earlier this year. The TJN had joined up with a group of Jersey campaigners who would like the island to wean itself off its dependence on the more creative aspects of modern finance. Christian Aid have estimated that Southern countries lose at least $160 billion every year in unpaid taxes as a result of dodgy accounting by corporations operating on their territory. According to the OECD, there is $5 trillion (or more) parked in offshore tax havens, beyond the reach of impertinent governments and their...

The United Kingdom welcomes Jersey’s progress in signing Tax Information Exchange Agreements, which strengthen its reputation as a jurisdiction committed to good governance in tax matters. Noting that Jersey recently concluded its fourteenth agreement, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Stephen Timms, said: