Financial Transparency Coalition

Despite having the world’s highest taxes, Denmark is increasingly being used as a type of tax haven

The Group of Eight* (G8) summit commenced yesterday amongst the rubble of the devastated Italian town, L’Aquila, which had been crushed by the Abruzzo earthquake on April 6th. Images of the leaders from the world’s eight biggest economies convening amongst smashed buildings provide a fitting metaphor for the world’s still caving economy. Unfortunately, it seems my brilliant solution—closing my eyes tightly and violently shaking my head—has not made it all go away. Much like devastating effects of the Abruzzo earthquake, the world’s economy continues to crumble, exposing the fault lines in our global financial system, which were easy...

Like lava lamps, parachute pants, and Twitter, it has become a fad to rave about fetching back illicit funds stashed abroad. Of course, like any first-rate fad, there was a trendsetting pair, which in this case was the U.S. and Swiss bank UBS. The pair linked up earlier this year when the IRS caught wind that Swiss bankers were traveling to the U.S., offering Americans access to superior wealth management, sound investment opportunities, the added perk of easy tax evasion. And the U.S. has been on the chase ever since. In recent months,...

The government is being urged by MPs to crack down on offshore tax havens and corruption to ensure poor countries gain the maximum benefit from their own resources.