Financial Transparency Coalition

Taxation News & Information—Worldwide tax changes and transparency measures need to be implemented soon in order to fight capital flight from poverty-stricken nations and worldwide tax evasion.

BRUSSELS—A debate was held on transparency and extractive industries in Africa at the European Parliament on 15 September 2010, organised by CIDSE, an international alliance of Catholic development agencies and its partner organisation SECAM, the pan-African bishops’ conference. The debate highlighted how “the lack of transparency is killing the African people,” as stated by Bishop Louis Portella-Mbuyu of Congo-Brazzaville, who for years has fearlessly challenged his government and transnational extractive companies. EU legislation could contribute to recuperating the huge amount of uncollected tax revenue, far surpassing development aid. The European Commission recently reviewed its EU transparency regulation setting up transparency...

Yaoundé, Cameroon, sits at the heart of Central Africa. The region is rich with mineral and forestry wealth which has been exploited ruthlessly by colonial powers and powerful corporations for centuries. You need only read the short historical paragraph on Yaoundé's Wikipedia entry to get a sense of this past and present intrusion by external powers. Much of Central Africa's wealth disappears offshore, and constant exploitation has exposed the region to deep rooted political and commercial corruption. This is the context in which tax justice researchers and campaigners...

The High Level Plenary meeting on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will gather in the UN headquarters in New York from 20 to 22 September with a view to assess and accelerate progress towards the achievement of the MDGs. Prospects for such progress look gloomy since all MDGs are currently off-track. Heads of State and Government will need to move a step forwards and adopt ambitious commitments in order to meet the 2015 deadline. However, according to sources involved in the negotiation of the summit’s final outcome, this agreement is more likely to be a new compilation of abstract...