Financial Transparency Coalition

Last week I wrote about a post, inspired by TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year, about who I would pick for a “Transparency Person of the Year.” Keeping with TIME’s definition, this would be someone who influenced the news, for better or worse, on issues related to financial transparency. I got so many great suggestions for additions to the list that I’m following up this week. Without further ado, here’s some (additional) picks: SHELDON ADELSON The billionaire casino mogul has dominated headlines this year. He made TIME Magazine’s nominations for “what critics cast as trying to buy the election,” through...

Yesterday on the Daily Show, Jon Stewart dedicated his first three minutes to talking about the HSBC money-laundering case.  As he’s known to do, Stewart gave a quick primer of the situation coupled with some humor.  During his HSBC segment, he mentions how there are a lot of banking scandals that most people don’t really

In 1992 the U.S. Supreme Court made a decision that directly affected the profitability of future powerhouse online retailers like Amazon.com and Overstock.com. In Quill v. North Dakota, the Court ruled that retailers who have no physical presence (or “nexus”) in a state are exempt from collecting sales taxes in that state. Obviously internet shopping in 1992 wasn’t exactly what it is now. Actually the case dealt with a catalog mail-order company, but online retailers now use the rule to avoid sales taxes. Of course since e-commerce sales have soared and displaced business of local retailers, this has become am...