Financial Transparency Coalition

On Saturday, Jeffrey Sachs, who spoke at the 2011 Task Force Conference earlier this month, made an impassioned impromptu speech at Zuccoti Park. The speech covered a range of topics, but at 8:01, he addressed tax havens:

The importance of tax for development is widely accepted. It is also increasingly being acknowledged that a company’s approach to taxation is an integral part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Against this background Christian Aid has produced a briefing “Tax and Sustainability: A framework for businesses and socially responsible investors”. This framework can be used by ethical investors to asses whether a company’s tax policy is responsible in its design or implementation.

ActionAid have produced another fine report, this time about the use of tax havens by multinational corporations listed on the FTSE 100. The statistics are staggering: for example more than half of the financial sector's overseas subsidiaries are in tax havens. More precisely:

• The FTSE 100 largest groups registered on the London Stock Exchange comprise 34,216 subsidiary companies, joint ventures and associates.
• 38% (8,492) of their overseas companies are located in tax havens.
• 98 groups declared tax haven companies, with only two groups, Fresnillo and Hargreaves Landsdown, who did not.
• The banking sector makes heaviest use of tax havens, with a total...

PARIS - Investors who want to ensure their money supports ethical concerns should add tax behaviour to the criteria by which companies are judged, Christian Aid says today.