Financial Transparency Coalition

WASHINGTON, DC – Amidst speculation over details of a possible tax agreement between Switzerland and Britain, Global Financial Integrity (GFI) reiterated the message that a broader, global solution to illicit financial practices and banking secrecy is needed.

David McNair of Christian Aid has an article under the first part of the above title in the Guardian today. David is right to draw attention to the toxic nature of a new deal between Germany and Switzerland – but the UK is also set to sign such a deal very soon. I wrote about this in May, saying the following, and nothing has changed since:

The FT reported today that the UK is to shortly sign a new tax deal with Switzerland. As it said:

Britons with billions of pounds hidden in Switzerland will pay tax...

By TJN staff and Mark Herkenrath, Alliance Sud We already blogged about the signing yesterday of the Swiss-German tax deal, and TJN's opposition to it. This blog goes into a little more detail than before, and outlines some of the salient points of the deal. This is something that matters a great deal - because several other countries are believed to be considering doing something similar. Which, in TJN's view, would be a grave mistake. (Our last blog also highlights the strange, even fishy-looking timing of this...

The Swiss government is about to conclude new tax deals with Germany and the UK. As was reported on the Task Force blog recently, and updated on the Tax Justice Blog, the Swiss withholding tax proposal poses a major threat to the EU's struggle for tax transparency.  In the meantime, reliable Swiss sources have revealed further details of the impending deals. 1. Germany and the UK will no longer require their citizens to declare their Swiss income. It's noteworthy that under the bilateral Swiss-EU Savings Tax Agreement, in force since 2005, Switzerland already charges a withholding tax (currently 35%)...