Financial Transparency Coalition

Attached are the official communique and declaration made by the G20 Finance Ministers at their summit on September 5, 2009. Additionally, attached is a progress report on the actions taken by the G20 at its previous 2 summits.

In the game Jenga, players take turns removing blocks from a tower and balancing them on top, creating a progressively taller, but also increasingly more unstable, structure as the game goes on. The gig is up when a player pulls out a final block and the whole structure collapses with a clatter of wooden bricks and screams of surprise. While the comparison is slightly simplistic, there are numerous ways that Jenga is just like the world’s current economic crisis. In the last few years, there have been many developments which in retrospect look like small blocks being pulled...

No, you didn’t read that incorrectly. Cayman is insolvent, bust, broke, unable to pay its debts. This is not a rumour, this is fact. This fact is confirmed by the speaking notes used by the Hon. McKeeva Bush for a meeting held with senior Cayman civil servants, government boards and private sector business leaders last Thursday, of which I seemed to be the first to secure a copy. The text is here, but I will also reproduce it separately on my blog in case Cayman take it down. The following summarises the current state of play,...

Any worthwhile point of view will always be met with opposition. The stance against tax havens is no exception. In that spirit, I think this is as good of time as any to present some arguments for tax havens. But, since this is my blog and I do what I want, I’m also going to take some time to refute these arguments. Discussion on the topic and “devil’s advocates” opinions are always welcome. There are four prevalent myths about tax havens. Myth 1: Forcing American companies out of tax havens will hinder their ability to compete...