UN High-Level Panel Communiqué Calls Tackling Illicit Financial Flows, Tax Havens, “Particularly Important” to Development Agenda
WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) today praised the United Nations High-Level Panel (HLP) of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda for highlighting the need to tackle illicit financial flows and the role of tax havens as key to global development moving forward.
GFI Director Raymond Baker Releases Statement on Sen. Levin’s Decision to Not Seek Re-Election in 2014
WASHINGTON, DC – Raymond Baker, director of Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington, DC-based research and advocacy organization, released the following statement upon news late yesterday that U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) would not seek reelection in 2014:
Global Financial Integrity Issues Statement in Advance of Thursday Morning’s Senate Banking Hearing on Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Failures
WASHINGTON, DC – In the wake of recent money laundering compliance failures at major U.S. and international banks, the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs is currently scheduled to hold a hearing tomorrow, Thursday, March 7, 2013 entitled, “Patterns of Abuse: Assessing Bank Secrecy Act Compliance and Enforcement.” Heather Lowe, Legal Counsel and Director of Government Affairs at Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington, DC-based research and advocacy organization, issued the following statement in advance of the hearing:
GFI Praises European Union for Committing to Require Financial Institutions to Disclose Profits, Taxes, Subsidies, and Staff Numbers on a Country-by-Country Basis
Civil Society Calls on E.U. and U.S. to Expand Transparency Rules beyond Financial Institutions to All Sectors
WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) praised European Union leaders today for their commitment to requiring banks to disclose profits-made, taxes-paid, subsidiaries, and staff levels on a country-by-country basis, and the Washington, DC-based research and advocacy organization called upon the United States to follow Europe’s lead and adopt similar rules.
Bank of Russia Governor: $50 Billion Illegally Flowed Out of Russia in 2012
WASHINGTON, DC – According to media reports, the Governor of the Central Bank of Russia stated Wednesday that roughly $50 billion was illegally siphoned out of Russia in 2012, echoing research published last week by Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington, DC-based research and advocacy organization, which estimated that an annual average of $62 billion was illicitly smuggled out of Russia in recent years.
Cover-Page Editorial and 10-Article “Special Report” Highlight Trillions of Dollars in Dirty Money Flows Facilitated by Delaware, Miami, City of London, and Offshore Tax Havens
WASHINGTON, DC – A 10-article exposé accompanied by a cover-page editorial in this week’s edition of The Economist highlights the damaging role of anonymous shell companies, banking secrecy, and lax money laundering regulations and enforcement in places like the United States, Great Britain, and offshore tax havens. The influential British magazine—which hits newsstands tomorrow—calls on developed western economies like the United States, Great Britain, and Europe to “focus… on cleaning up their own back yards and reforming their tax systems.”
Cyprus a “Laundry Machine for Dirty Russian Money”
Illegal Inflows of Capital Estimated at US$552.9 Billion; Driving Underground Economy, Crime, Tax Evasion
US$764.3 Billion in Total Illicit Flows (Inflows + Outflows) Measured
Russia’s Underground Economy Averages 46% of GDP, 35% in 2011; Weak Governance and Endemic Tax Evasion Lead to Increasing Outflows
WASHINGTON, DC – The Russian economy hemorrhaged US$211.5 billion in illicit financial outflows from 1994—the earliest year for which data is available following the dissolution of the Soviet Union—through 2011, according to a new report released Wednesday by Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington, DC-based research and advocacy organization. The study, titled “Russia: Illicit Financial Flows and the Role of the Underground Economy,” [HTML | PDF] also measures massive illicit inflows to the Russian economy of $552.9 billion over the 18-year time-span, raising serious questions about the economic and political stability of the nation currently chairing the G20.
E.J. Fagan, +1 202 293 0740 ext. 227
Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) Introduce CUT Loopholes Act
WASHINGTON DC – In the midst of a Congressional and White House showdown over the impending sequestration, and growing calls for corporate tax reform, Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) put forth the Cut Unjustified Tax Loopholes Act (S. 268, CUT Loopholes Act). This bill, which closes loopholes and strengthens enforcement measures against offshore tax haven abuse, could raise nearly $200 billion over ten years.
