Financial Transparency Coalition

In 1862 Victor Hugo, widely considered one of France’s greatest poets, published Les Misérables, literally translated to The Miserable Ones. The story, which has been adapted into dozens of versions in film, television, radio, and most famously as a musical—follows the story of a man who survives persecution amidst social and political upheavals in 19th century Paris. While the story traverses countless themes and motifs, one of the central ideas of the novel is social injustice and Hugo uses the novel as a platform to condemn the unjust class-based structure of the times. Today Action Aid released data on the...

Terminology is essential to any serious action against secrecy jurisdictions. The term of secrecy jurisdiction is relatively recent and we owe it to Tax Justice Network and others, which have demonstrated the important secrecy component of a certain number of jurisdictions. The term tends to replace “offshore centres”, a more descriptive and a bit misleading expression which does not refer to offshore islands but tries to depict the role of the centre as a financial intermediary in a trade conducted elsewhere, with most assets and most liabilities being invested or held abroad. The advocacy value of the term...