Financial Transparency Coalition

In late June, we met with members of the Tax Justice Network Africa (TJN-A) and the Africa International Trade Union Confederation (Africa ITUC) for a training and strategy session in Naivasha, a town northwest of Nairobi. The goal of the event was to bring people together to discuss and analyze the problem of illicit financial flows and the lack of transparency, particularly within the extractive sector. It wasn't long after we left the city limits of Nairobi that the landscape changed dramatically, quickly shifting from shopping malls and apartment complexes...

Developing countries should have a voice in the discussion on international taxation, writes David McNair of Christian Aid Sitting in New York's Harvard Club surrounded by tax lawyers is not one of the places you expect to find yourself when you sign up to work for an NGO. But there we were, surrounded by taxidermy, listening to a live pianist and discussing the ins and outs of negotiating tax treaties. The world of international taxation, despite affecting millions, is controlled by a small community of people. I have yet to meet a member of this group that is anything but decent,...

‘We don’t care how much tax we pay, as long as you tell us how much it is, let us pay it and leave us alone’ Perhaps not what you might expect to hear from the head of tax from a major global bank. But as the most influential tax professionals from across America gathered in DC to discuss the latest developments in business taxation with the OECD, simplicity and certainty was the resounding call from business. The OECD is looking for its place in the world, and it’s pretty clear that this “rich countries’ club” is not as dominant as...