Financial Transparency Coalition

Developing countries should have a voice in the discussion on international taxation, writes David McNair of Christian Aid Sitting in New York's Harvard Club surrounded by tax lawyers is not one of the places you expect to find yourself when you sign up to work for an NGO. But there we were, surrounded by taxidermy, listening to a live pianist and discussing the ins and outs of negotiating tax treaties. The world of international taxation, despite affecting millions, is controlled by a small community of people. I have yet to meet a member of this group that is anything but decent,...

The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the attached outcome document for the 2010 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Summit by consensus on September 22, 2010. The document puts forth an action agenda for achieving the MDGs by 2015; the agenda includes tackling the issue of illicit financial flows as one of the action items.

Director of Global Financial Integrity Raymond Baker addressed international tax cooperation as a panelist at the informal United Nations panel discussion held yesterday in New York. Mr. Baker participated in the event's second panel on innovative development financing initiatives under development. Philippe Douste-Blazy, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Innovative Financing for Development, chaired the day-long event and provided opening and closing remarks. The meeting allowed for informal and interactive discussion of all the issues related to accomplishing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. The first panel focused specifically on mechanisms of innovative development...

A group of experts chaired by Nobel laureate Prof. Joseph Stiglitz has called for an end to offshore and onshore financial centres. The draft report of the UN commission on the reform of the international monetary and financial system, presents a range of proposals for the reform of the global financial architecture following the global financial crisis. Most notably, the report highlights how onshore and offshore tax havens have contributed to the so called, 'shadow banking system' and the problem of illicit capital flight, arguing that 'well regulated economies have to be protected from those that are under- or...