Joint News Release from Global Financial Integrity and Global Witness
WASHINGTON, DC – Every year developing countries lose as much as $1 trillion due to illicit financial practices such as government corruption, tax evasion, and criminal activity. Today’s pledge from the G20 to increase funding for the IMF and for the developing world are laudable, but these efforts must also address illicit capital flight which remains the greatest impediment to economic development and poverty alleviation.
WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) submitted a statement to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means today on critical measures needed to ensure success in Congressional efforts to curtail abuse of tax havens. The statement, submitted for the hearing held today on “Banking Secrecy and Wealthy American Taxpayers,” recommends provisions set forward in the the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act and Incorporation Transparency Act, both sponsored by Senator Carl Levin and introduced earlier this month.
WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) sent Congressional leadership a letter today signed by nearly 30 public interest groups affirming support for legislation that would combat offshore secrecy jurisdictions (Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act) and applauding Congressional action on the problem of tax haven abuse. Called the “Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act” the Levin bill would, among other benefits, give the Treasury Department “authority to take special measures against foreign jurisdictions and financial institutions that impede U.S. tax enforcement.” An estimated $100 billion in US taxes are lost each year due to the abuse of tax havens.
Increasing transparency has become an uncertain element in the laundry list of reforms, regulations, agreements, and actions expected to be discussed when the G20 meets this week. Of the original three solutions proposed to be addressed by the G20 process: stimulus, regulation, and transparency, it is the first two: stimulus and regulation, which have emerged as dominant themes for Thursday’s meeting. This is a critical misstep as transparency represents the most reasonable and effective means for strengthening and revitalizing the global financial system.
The communiqué following the November 15th meeting of the G20 in Washington was bold and comprehensive, with “strengthening transparency and accountability” well argued and placed ahead of “enhancing sound regulation.” But transparency did not appear in the elements paper preceding the April 2nd meeting in London. Nor did it appear in U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s statement following the March 14th finance ministers meeting in Horsham. And it appeared only glancingly—“transparency of exposures to off-balance sheet vehicles”—in the general communiqué following that meeting.
WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity welcomed the introduction of the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act.
WASHINGTON, DC – The discovery of “massive and on-going fraud” at Stanford Financial Group, intensifying U.S. pressure against Swiss bank UBS, and strong words of intent to crackdown on tax havens issued Sunday by EU finance ministers are just the latest events to underscore the need to institute transparency measures in tax and financial policy.
WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) urges Congress to institute measures requiring greater transparency following the release of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report stating that eighty-three of America’s 100 largest publicly traded corporations and contractors control secret offshore operations that could help them avoid paying U.S. taxes on their profits.
WASHINGTON, DC – As a Senator, President-Elect Barack Obama co-signed legislation that would crack-down on tax evasion and the abuse of tax havens, as a Presidential candidate he reiterated his commitment to tackling tax evasion.
