This is the RSS feed for Global Financial Integrity. http://www.gfintegrity.org Fri, 18 May 2012 01:56:25 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.gfintegrity.org/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://www.gfintegrity.org This is the RSS feed for Global Financial Integrity. http://www.gfintegrity.org/content/view/510/70/ Curtailing Illegal Capital Flight Will Ensure Food Security in Developing World; Make Good on L’Aquila CommitmentMay 17, 2012 Clark Gascoigne (mailto:cgascoigne@gfintegrity.org), +1 202 293 0740 x222WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) today called on leaders of the G8 to concretely tackle the issue of illicit financial flows and end tax haven secrecy when they meet this weekend at Camp David. Illegal capital flight costs the developing world (http://iffdec2011.gfintegrity.org/) roughly $1 trillion per year, according to GFI research.“A major focus of this weekend’s summit is the issue of food security in the developing world,” said GFI Director Raymond W. Baker. “What better way to ensure food security than to guarantee that developing countries have the finances necessary to invest in agriculture and nutrition programs? We cannot reach a post-aid-dependent world without curtailing illicit financial flows.”GFI is calling on G8 leaders this weekend to prioritize the implementation of the following concrete policy measures: Press Releases - Default Thu, 17 May 2012 10:31:39 +0100 http://www.gfintegrity.org/content/view/509/70/ Legislation Enjoys Support of Law Enforcement, Obama Administration; Would Clean-Up American Financial System May 16, 2012 Clark Gascoigne (mailto:cgascoigne@gfintegrity.org), +1 202 293 0740 x222 WASHINGTON, DC – Today, 41 business and civil society groups sent a letter (storage/gfip/documents/FACT/fact_cso_and_business_support_ltr_for_s1483.pdf) to every member of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate urging them to co-sponsor the Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act (S. 1483/ H.R. 3416). This bipartisan bill, which is endorsed by the Obama Administration, would require companies to disclose their ultimate owners at the time of incorporation, making it much harder for corrupt politicians, tax dodgers, terrorists and other criminals to form and hide behind anonymous U.S. shell companies. The signatories1, who include, among others, American Sustainable Business Council, Calvert Investments, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Citizens for Tax Justice, Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition, CtW Investment Group, Domini Social Investments LLC, Friends of the Earth – US, Global Financial Integrity, Global Witness, Human Rights Watch, Jubilee USA Network, Main Street Alliance, Oxfam America, Project On Government Oversight, Revenue Watch Institute, Sunlight Foundation and U.S. Public Interest Research Group, are concerned that it is legal to form companies in the United States with hidden ownership. The letter states: Press Releases - Default Wed, 16 May 2012 01:19:54 +0100 http://www.gfintegrity.org/content/view/507/70/ GFI Spokespeople Available for Comment on Apple, Tax Avoidance, Transfer Mispricing, Tax Haven AbuseApril 30, 2012 Clark Gascoigne (mailto:cgascoigne@gfintegrity.org), +1 202 293 0740 x222WASHIGNTON, DC – A front-page article (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/business/apples-tax-strategy-aims-at-low-tax-states-and-nations.html) in Sunday’s edition of The New York Times drew attention to shady accounting techniques utilized by Apple Inc, the technology giant, to avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes each year. However, Global Financial Integrity (GFI) notes that Apple’s tax dodging is only one example of a larger problem: most multinational enterprises abuse tax haven secrecy. Tax haven abuses are estimated (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/heather-a-lowe/tax-dodging_b_1429936.html) to cost the Internal Revenue Service US$100 billion per year and developing economies roughly US$1 trillion annually.Global Financial Integrity spokespeople are available to comment on: Press Releases - Default Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:26:36 +0100 http://www.gfintegrity.org/content/view/506/70/ New Rule Still Exempts Many Jurisdictions; GFI Urges IRS to Expand Requirement to Accounts Held by All Non-Resident Aliens April 18, 2012 Clark Gascoigne (mailto:cgascoigne@gfintegrity.org), +1 202 293 0740 x222 WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) applauded the U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for last night adopting a regulation (TD 9584) requiring banks to report information about interest earned on U.S. deposit accounts held by non-resident aliens, as banks have been required to do for accounts held by American citizens and Canadians. GFI and others have long advocated for implementation of this rule as an important tool in the fight against international tax evasion, money laundering, drug trafficking, corruption, and terrorist financing. However, while the GFI acknowledges the new regulation is a significant step in the right direction, the implementing rules exempt banks from reporting information on accounts held by residents of jurisdictions with which the United States does not have a bilateral exchange of information agreement. “We are thrilled to see that the U.S. government is going to know a lot more about who has money in U.S. banks,” said Heather A. Lowe, Legal Counsel and Director of Government Affairs at GFI. “Yet, residents from many jurisdictions will still be able to hide money anonymously in deposit accounts in the United States.” Press Releases - Default Wed, 18 Apr 2012 01:00:00 +0100 http://www.gfintegrity.org/content/view/505/70/ China Largest Victim Worldwide of Illicit Outflows; Lost US$2.74 trillion to Crime, Corruption and Tax Evasion from 2000 to 2009 April 16, 2012 Clark Gascoigne (mailto:cgascoigne@gfintegrity.org), +1 202 293 0740 x222 WASHINGTON, DC – As details surfaced today connecting the illicit outflow of assets from China in the suspicious death of British businessman Neil Heywood last November, Global Financial Integrity (GFI) highlighted China’s place as the largest victim of illicit financial outflows. The latest research from GFI estimates that the Asian nation suffered US$2.74 trillion in illicit financial outflows over the decade ending in 2009, more than quintupling the outflows from the next largest victim of illegal capital flight. In a blog post published this evening on the website of the Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development, GFI Economist Sarah Freitas explains (http://www.financialtaskforce.org/2012/04/16/murder-of-a-british-businessman-offers-a-glimpse-into-the-scale-of-chinese-corruption/), Global Financial Integrity research suggests that corruption on this scale does indeed occur in China. In December, our report, Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries over the Decade Ending 2009, found that China by far led the world in illicit financial flows over that time period. Our conservative estimates found that a staggering US$2.74 trillion flowed out of China from 2000 to 2009 -- five times the outflows of second-place Mexico. Press Releases - Default Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:45:53 +0100 http://www.gfintegrity.org/content/view/504/70/ GFI Advisory Board Member to Chair Group of ExpertsApril 4, 2012 Clark Gascoigne (mailto:cgascoigne@gfintegrity.org), +1 202 293 0740 x222 WASHINGTON, DC – The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Initiative (IBAHRI) today announced the formation of a international task force charged with investigating the linkages between illicit financial flows, poverty and human rights violations. Chaired by Global Financial Integrity Advisory Board member and Yale University Professor Thomas Pogge, the task force consists of prominent academics, tax experts, and lawyers from around the world. In 2010, Prof. Pogge helped organize the New Haven Declaration on Human Rights and Financial Integrity (content/view/290/125/), a statement from 20 international human rights and development organizations highlighting the human rights implications of illicit financial flows. Shortly thereafter, the IBAHRI Council adopted a resolution on poverty and human rights recognizing “severe, endemic and chronic poverty as a violation of human rights.” Scroll down for the full press release (http://www.ibanet.org/Article/Detail.aspx?ArticleUid=7C696226-F707-4BC3-A61C-780C0412139A) from the IBAHRI with more details on the newly-formed task force. Press Releases - Default Wed, 04 Apr 2012 14:07:12 +0100 http://www.gfintegrity.org/content/view/503/70/ Research and Advocacy Organization Recommends Country-by-Country Reporting to Help Curtail Tax AvoidanceMarch 28, 2012 Clark Gascoigne (mailto:cgascoigne@gfintegrity.org), +1 202 293 0740 x222WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) welcomed an initiative (http://www.oecd.org/document/31/0,3746,en_21571361_44315115_49995807_1_1_1_1,00.html) by the OECD’s first Global Forum on Transfer Pricing today to simplify and strengthen international transfer pricing standards, but noted the need to engage a wide variety of developing countries as the Global Forum moves forward with its work.“Transfer pricing, the practice of pricing transactions between entities of the same multinational company, can often be abused by companies to shift their actual profits away from high-tax jurisdictions and recording them in low-tax jurisdictions, thereby minimizing their own tax bill,” said Heather Lowe, GFI’s legal counsel and director of government affairs. “Transfer pricing abuse starves countries—particularly developing countries—of the tax revenue needed to invest in infrastructure, healthcare, and education.”“As the Global Forum moves ahead and conducts its planned transfer pricing risk assessment, simplifies the existing transfer pricing rules, and develops its detailed ‘how-to’ manual, it’s crucial that developing nations have a significant voice in the process,” added Lowe. Press Releases - Default Wed, 28 Mar 2012 15:48:58 +0100 http://www.gfintegrity.org/content/view/502/70/ March 22, 2012 Clark Gascoigne (mailto:cgascoigne@gfintegrity.org), +1 202 293 0740 x222 WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) Advisory Board Member and Nigerian Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is to be nominated by developing world nations to replace outgoing World Bank President Robert Zoellick when his term expires in June. The Wall Street Journal reports today (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304724404577297314251010818.html) that Min. Okonjo-Iweala will receive the backing of South Africa, Angola and Nigeria to fill the top role at the international financial institution. “Ngozi has been a steadfast supporter of GFI’s work to curtail illicit financial flows and advance transparency proposals at the World Bank and within the global community at-large,” said GFI Director Raymond Baker. “She is eminently qualified and would make a terrific World Bank President.” A long-time proponent of financial transparency, Min. Okonjo-Iweala has served as a member of the GFI advisory board (content/view/15/136/) since 2007. Press Releases - Default Thu, 22 Mar 2012 15:26:56 +0100 http://www.gfintegrity.org/content/view/501/70/ Georgetown University Panel to Also Feature Speakers from DOJ, SEC, Shearman Sterling and World Bank March 12, 2012 Clark Gascoigne (mailto:cgascoigne@gfintegrity.org), +1 202 293 0740 x222 WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity’s Legal Counsel and Director of Government Affairs, Heather A. Lowe (content/view/16/137#heather), will participate in a panel discussion on proposed changes to the FCPA at Georgetown University Law Center tomorrow evening, Tuesday, March 13, 2012. The panel, titled “Corruption Compliance: Should the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Be Amended?,” will also include Charles Duross, Deputy Chief of the Fraud Section, Department of Justice; Charles Cain, Assistant Chief of FCPA Unit, Securities Exchange Commission; and Phillip Urofsky, Litigation Partner, Shearman Sterling. The discussion will be moderated by Pascale Dubois, Evaluation Suspension Officer at the World Bank and an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center. Press Releases - Default Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:28:06 +0100 http://www.gfintegrity.org/content/view/500/70/ Amendment to Raise $900 Million Over 10 Years March 8, 2012 Clark Gascoigne (mailto:cgascoigne@gfintegrity.org), +1 202 293 0740 x222 WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) today applauded the U.S. Senate for unanimously adopting the Levin-Conrad amendment (S.A. 1818) to the highway reauthorization bill, and called upon members of the House of Representatives to follow suit in their own version of the legislation. The amendment, sponsored by Senators Carl Levin (D-MI), Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), grants the U.S. Treasury Department “a discretionary tool to stop off-shore tax havens and their financial institutions that ‘impede U.S. tax enforcement’ from transacting business in the United States.” The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the provision would raise $900 million in government revenue over ten years. “We are thrilled that the amendment received unanimous support from the Senate today. Now it is time for the House to likewise demonstrate its commitment to cracking down on offshore tax dodging by also adopting the proposal,” said Heather Lowe, director of Government affairs at Global Financial Integrity. Press Releases - Default Thu, 08 Mar 2012 17:40:38 +0100 http://www.gfintegrity.org/content/view/499/70/ Amendment Would Raise $900 Million Over 10 Years March 8, 2012 Clark Gascoigne (mailto:cgascoigne@gfintegrity.org),+1 202 293 0740 x222 WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) today joined several other civil society organizations encouraging U.S. Senators to support the offshore tax evasion amendment (S.A. 1818) to the highway reauthorization bill. The amendment, sponsored by Senators Carl Levin (D-MI) and Kent Conrad (D-ND), is expected to come up for a vote this evening. The provision would grant the U.S. Treasury Department “a discretionary tool to stop off-shore tax havens and their financial institutions that ‘impede U.S. tax enforcement’ from transacting business in the United States.” The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the provision would raise $900 million in government revenue over ten years. “This amendment provides the Treasury Department with an important tool to combat offshore tax evasion depriving our country of much needed tax revenue,” said Heather Lowe, director of Government affairs at Global Financial Integrity. “It’s a measure that all Senators should be able to support.” Press Releases - Default Thu, 08 Mar 2012 15:32:00 +0100 http://www.gfintegrity.org/content/view/497/70/ February 16, 2012 Clark Gascoigne (mailto:cgascoigne@gfintegrity.org),+1 202 293 0740 x222 EJ Fagan (mailto:efagan@gfintegrity.org),+1 202 293 0740 x227 WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) praised moves by the international anti-money laundering authority to crackdown on tax evasion and smuggling in new standards (http://www.fatf-gafi.org/document/17/0,3746,en_32250379_32236920_49656209_1_1_1_1,00.html) announced today, but expressed disappointment in the body’s failure to address anonymous corporate vehicles as a facilitator of financial crime. Tackling Tax Evasion The Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) revised standards, announced this morning at a press conference in Paris, add tax evasion and smuggling to the list of crimes that can result in charges for money laundering—something that GFI has long advocated as a tool to turn the tide against tax dodging. The organization notes that the recommendations go so far as to cover both indirect and direct tax crimes and smuggling in relation to customs and excise duties and taxes. “We are very pleased that FATF’s revisions include tax evasion and smuggling as predicate offenses for money laundering,” said Heather Lowe, legal counsel and director of government affairs at Global Financial Integrity. “This sends a strong message to people who set up schemes and structures to enable others to evade taxes that they aren’t just unnamed facilitators, they are actually money launderers.” Press Releases - Default Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:16:24 +0100 http://www.gfintegrity.org/content/view/496/70/ Oil Industry Must Stop Supporting Secrecy, Say Financial Transparency and Anti-Poverty Groups February 13, 2012 Clark Gascoigne (mailto:cgascoigne@gfintegrity.org),+1 202 293 0740 x222 WASHINGTON, DC – Anti-poverty groups and supporters of financial transparency today urged the oil industry to drop its attacks on a new law that will reduce corruption and reveal the money trail between industry and resource-rich governments. To highlight the hush-hush payments that often occur between oil companies and resource-rich governments, advocates of transparency and economic justice are releasing a full page ad (http://www.gfintegrity.org/storage/gfip/images/ads/sec_dodd-frank_oil-transparency.pdf) in the Wall Street Journal. Oxfam America is also sponsoring online ads in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Politico, Huffington Post and The Hill throughout the week.  They also call on the public to take action by telling oil companies, such as Chevron, Exxon, Shell and ConocoPhillips, to stop fighting transparency. “Countries around the world have suffered deeply from corruption, conflict and unfair foreign exploitation,” said Simon Taylor, founding director of Global Witness. "By trying to water down these transparency laws, oil companies are in effect trying to gag millions of people who have a right to know how their countries’ wealth is being managed and who is getting the money.” Press Releases - Default Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:54:57 +0100 http://www.gfintegrity.org/content/view/495/70/ Legislation Would Require Country-by-Country Reporting of Sales, Profits, Employees and Tax Payments by Multinationals February 7, 2012 Clark Gascoigne (mailto:cgascoigne@gfintegrity.org),+1 202 293 0740 x222 WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) today applauded the introduction of a bill (http://www.levin.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/levin-conrad-introduce-cut-tax-loopholes-act), which would close several major tax loopholes and curtail abusive tax haven secrecy. The Cut Unjustified Tax (CUT) Loopholes Act, which was introduced in the U.S. Senate today by Senators Carl Levin (D-MI) and Kent Conrad (D-ND), contains several provisions to permanently close offshore tax loopholes, raise revenue, and increase transparency and accountability for multinational enterprises. “Enactment of the CUT Loopholes Act would be a huge step forward,” said Raymond Baker, director of GFI. “It would scrap several egregious offshore tax loopholes—eliminating incentives to send money and jobs overseas, help level the playing field between small businesses and multinational corporations, increase information and transparency for corporate investors, and strengthen law enforcement and tax collection abilities.” Press Releases - Default Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:54:57 +0100 http://www.gfintegrity.org/content/view/494/75/ Read more... (http://mexico.gfintegrity.org/) Reports - Default Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:52:49 +0100 http://www.gfintegrity.org/content/view/493/70/ Illicit Financial Outflows Average Over 5% of GDP, Driven by Underground Economy, Spiked in Wake of NAFTA Study Recommends Policies Be Implemented to Address Trade Mispricing, Money Laundering, Tax Evasion January 29, 2012 Clark Gascoigne (mailto:cgascoigne@gfintegrity.org),+1 202 293 0740 x222 MEXICO CITY / WASHINGTON, DC – Crime, corruption and tax evasion cost the Mexican economy US$872 billion between 1970 and 2010 according to a new report (http://mexico.gfintegrity.org) from Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington, DC-based research and advocacy organization. The illicit financial outflows, which averaged a massive 5.2% of GDP, grew significantly over the 41-year period studied from just US$1 billion in 1970 to US$68.5 billion in 2010. “This is a devastatingly large amount of money for any developing country to lose,” said Raymond W. Baker, director of GFI. “$872 billion is gone, which could have been used to develop the Mexican economy, to invest in education, to build roads, or to fight the drug cartels. The negative ramifications are huge for everyday Mexicans.” The study, which was authored by Dr. Dev Kar, GFI lead economist, saw illicit outflows explode from an annual average of US$3.0 billion in the 1970s, to US$10.4 billion in the 1980s, to US$17.4 billion in the 1990s, and US$49.6 billion in the decade ending 2009. Press Releases - Default Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:19:01 +0100 http://www.gfintegrity.org/content/view/491/70/ Proposals to Amend Foreign Bribery Law Could Significantly Undermine Human Rights, Commerce, U.S. Standing in the World January 12, 2012 Clark Gascoigne (mailto:cgascoigne@gfip.org), +1 202-293-0740 ext.222 Stefanie Ostfeld (mailto:sostfeld@globalwitness.org), +1 202-621-6674 WASHINGTON, DC – Earlier today more than 30 civil society and business groups, including human rights and anticorruption organizations, sent a letter (http://www.scribd.com/doc/78041628/Defending-the-FCPA-CSO-Letter-to-U-S-House-Jan-12-2012) to every member of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate expressing their opposition to any efforts to amend the world’s flagship anticorruption legislation, the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The signatories, who include, among others1, Amnesty International, Calvert Investments, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, EarthRights International, Global Financial Integrity, Global Witness, Human Rights Watch, International Corporate Accountability Roundtable, Jubilee USA Network, Open Society Policy Center, Oxfam America, Revenue Watch Institute and Transparency International-USA are concerned that Members of Congress in both the House and Senate are considering introducing legislation that would weaken the decades old law. The organizations stated in their correspondence that any narrowing of the law, which serves as the model for other international anticorruption conventions and foreign anticorruption laws, would have a negative effect on global commerce, human rights, and the standing of the U.S. in the world. Press Releases - Default Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:54:39 +0100 http://www.gfintegrity.org/content/view/487/75/ Read more... (http://iffdec2011.gfintegrity.org/) Reports - Default Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:52:49 +0100 http://www.gfintegrity.org/content/view/486/70/ Over US$900 Billion Illicitly Drained from Developing Countries in 2009, Says Annual GFI Study Report Finds Developing World Lost US$8.44 Trillion over the Decade 2000-2009 December 15, 2011 Clark Gascoigne (mailto:cgascoigne@gfip.org), +1 202-293-0740 ext.222 WASHINGTON, DC – Developing countries lost US$903 billion in illicit financial outflows in 2009 despite the massive slowdown in economic activity which rocked world markets in late 2008, finds a new study by Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington-based research and advocacy organization. “Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries over the Decade Ending 2009,” which estimates the developing world lost US$8.44 trillion over the decade ending in 2009, is GFI’s annual update on the amount of money flowing out of developing economies via crime, corruption and tax evasion, and it is the first of GFI’s reports to include data for the year 2009. “This is a breathtakingly large sum at a time when developing and developed countries alike are struggling to make ends meet,” said GFI Director Raymond Baker. “This report should be a wake-up call to world leaders that more must be done to address these harmful outflows.” Press Releases - Default Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:29:00 +0100 http://www.gfintegrity.org/content/view/485/70/ Senator to Accept Award Tonight at Gala Dinner in Washington, DC December 14, 2011 Clark Gascoigne (mailto:cgascoigne@gfip.org), +1 202-293-0740 ext.222 WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) will tonight present Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) with the organization’s 2011 annual Award for Exemplary Leadership in acknowledgement of his untiring efforts on behalf of financial integrity in the U.S. and abroad. Sen. Levin will accept the award this evening at a gala dinner hosted by GFI in his honor at The Army and Navy Club (http://www.armynavyclub.org/) in Washington, DC. “We are thrilled to honor Sen. Levin’s many distinguished contributions in pursuit of transparency and accountability in our financial system,” said GFI Director Raymond Baker. “For many years, Senator Levin has been at the forefront of both foreign and domestic anticorruption and tax justice efforts.” Press Releases - Default Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:34:42 +0100