Friday, January 14, 2011

Links - Jan 14

Sorry, we've been light on links recently. Some of these are a little older than usual

IMF Launches Trust Fund to Help Countries Improve Tax Policy and Administration
- IMF
Dec 17 - Is this a fig-leaf or a path to real reform? Intriguing that of 5 initial donors, 4 are secrecy jurisdictions ranking within the top 12 of the Financial Secrecy Index. Watch this space for further comment! Also see report from our friends at Eurodad Unmasking the IMF: The post-financial crisis imperative for reform

White Collar Crime Tax Trends to Watch in New Year marketwire.com
Jan 5 - In the U.S.A., tax enforcement upsurge to continue in 2011 with a focus on offshore assets.

Fashion king Valentino caught up in tax inquiry The Times, South Africa
Fashion and film world celebrities and top business figures named in Italian tax evasion investigations, amongst hundreds of others disclosed from data taken from a Swiss unit of HSBC bank by an IT worker four years ago.

Haiti earthquake: Corruption kills, not tremors Guardian - Damian Carrington Blog
Jan 12 - "The structural integrity of a building is no stronger than the social integrity of the builder" - perhaps this awful truth is an analogy for the integrity of the global financial architecture.

The Rise of the New Global Elite - The Atlantic
Jan / Feb - Super-wealthy existing in own rarefied economic bubble, indifferent to hurt caused to rest of us by massive-scale tax dodging, delude themselves that philanthropy makes it all ok. Sadly, it omits the words 'offshore' or 'tax havens'.

The Rise and Rise of Capital Controls Reuters Blog - James Saft
Jan 4 - Capital controls, now on the rise, may soon bleed into currency wars. Kind of the opposite of super-charged offshore finance.

Reforms could expose "scandalous tax treatment" of multinationals - Tax Journal
Jan 4 - Tax Journal calls attention to Financial Times editorial supporting massive corporate tax reform, which we blogged here .

Crude Calculations - Continued Lack of Transparency over Oil in Sudan - Global Witness
Jan 6 - Our friends at Global Witness report on continued obfuscation on Sudan’s oil revenues. With the referendum on independence for southern Sudan, oil sector transparency is now more important than ever to preserving the fragile peace between north and south.

Romanian Witches to cast Anti-Government Spell The Guardian
Jan 6 - Witches protest against new tax laws and cast spells on the politicians who implemented them. See TJN blog on IMF and Romania tackle flat tax failure.

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