Despite Acknowledging Dangers of Phantom Firms, Obama Administration & G8 Fail to Endorse Public Corporate Ownership Registries
G8 Leaders Allow Multinationals to Continue Aggressive Tax Avoidance in the Dark
World Leaders Endorse Global Automatic Exchange of Tax Information, Transparency in Extractive Industries at Lough Erne Summit
WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) welcomed the statements from G8 leaders today reiterating the significant progress that has been made to crack down on international tax evasion and supporting a global standard of automatic tax information exchange, but the research and advocacy organization expressed disappointment in the White House and world leaders for failing to fully address the need for transparency in multinational companies’ basic financial reporting and in corporate ownership.
U.S. President Urged to Join David Cameron’s Call for Public Registries of Beneficial Ownership Information at G8 Summit Next Week
Multilateral Automatic Exchange of Tax Information Should Be Global Norm, Expanded to Developing Countries
Country-by-Country Reporting by Multinational Companies Essential to Deter & Expose Abusive Tax Dodging
WASHINGTON, DC – As G8 leaders prepare to meet Monday and Tuesday in Northern Ireland, Global Financial Integrity (GFI) called on U.S. President Barack Obama to take aggressive action to curtail illicit financial flows and support public disclosure of corporate ownership information as essential to reducing crime, corruption, tax evasion, and terrorist financing. Under the leadership of British Prime Minister David Cameron, the G8 Summit is expected to focus on curbing abusive tax dodging and corruption.
Senate Ratification of Treaties Crucial to Stopping Tax Evaders, Continuing International Momentum for Automatic Exchange of Tax Information
International Business Groups Have Also Called on Paul to Resolve the Legal Uncertainty Caused by Delay
WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington, DC-based research and advocacy organization, urged Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) today to allow the U.S. Senate to vote on treaties negotiated by the U.S. with Switzerland, Luxembourg, Hungary, and other countries to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), ferreting out U.S. tax evaders. Senate rules allow any Senator to place a “hold” on legislation removing it from consideration, and Sen. Paul has placed holds on bills to implement every tax treaty negotiated since his election in 2010.
As the saying goes—when things seem too good to be true, they often are. And so it is with tax haven secrecy.
For decades, government officials in Washington, London, and other Western nations were in agreement: Tax havens and anonymous shell companies were beneficial, or so the logic went. Regulators at the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of London saw trillions of “foreign” dollars flowing into American and British markets from offshore tax havens. Surely, that was a good thing. If a bunch of anonymous shell companies and disguised bank accounts want to funnel enormous wealth into the American and British economies, why ask questions? What’s the worst that could happen?
Bipartisan Study Features GFI Research, Endorses Eliminating Phantom Firms
Senate Drug Caucus Report Quotes GFI’s Heather Lowe, Highlight’s GFI’s Research on Trade-Based Money Laundering
WASHINGTON, DC / LONDON – A bipartisan Congressional report published Thursday by the U.S. Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control (Senate Drug Caucus) emphasizes cracking down on money laundering as key to curtailing the illicit drug trade. Quoting heavily from Global Financial Integrity (GFI) experts and research, the study endorses eliminating anonymous U.S. shell companies through the passage of the bipartisan Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act, bolstering enforcement of existing anti-money laundering (AML) policies, and strengthening anti-money laundering laws through passage of the bipartisan Combating Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Counterfeiting Act.
This month’s leak of data on the use of offshore tax havens and anonymous shell companies from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists emphasizes how massive and truly global the tax haven menace really is.
The files released by the ICIJ, analyzed in collaboration with nearly forty news outlets around the globe, implicate the families of foreign dictators in Nigeria and the Philippines, embroil international arms dealers, entangle conduits of the Iranian nuclear program, incriminate close associates of the current French President, and expose scores of other tax evaders and swindlers in the U.S. and around the world.
On U.S. Tax Day, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) Introduces Legislation to Close Offshore Tax Loopholes and Foster Transparency
5 More European Nations Join Compact to Automatically Exchange Tax Information Multilaterally
WASHINGTON, DC – As the deadline arrived Monday for Americans to file their tax returns, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) introduced the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act (STHA) to initiate transparency measures and close several offshore tax loopholes that cost the United States Treasury an estimated $150 billion every year. Beyond boosting tax revenue in the U.S., Global Financial Integrity (GFI) praised the legislation for its impact on developing nations, which lose an estimated $1 trillion per year in illicit outflows of money due to tax haven secrecy.
Historic EU Transparency Rules Would Build Upon Landmark Cardin-Lugar Provisions to Include Logging Companies and Large, Privately-Owned Firms
WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) lauded European leaders today for agreeing to adopt historic transparency rules for European companies operating in the extractive sectors. The rules, announced this evening in Brussels, will require large, privately-owned European companies and EU-listed firms operating in the oil, gas, mining, and logging sectors to disclose information on payments made to governments.
