Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Links Sep 19

Yesterday’s EU decision on country-by-country reporting: a big step forward Tax Research UK
Sep 19 - On the EU Parliament’s decision on country-by-country reporting - "Large extractive companies dealing with oil, gas and minerals would be obliged to disclose full information on their payments to national governments, on a country-by-country and project-by-project basis."

Money magic makes billions disappear Financial Review

Sep 1 - A lurid tale. "For years a secretive gambling syndicate had been looking for a way to siphon funds offshore without attracting the attention of the Australian Taxation Office..."

South Africa Revenue Service sets its sights on super-rich tax dodgers BDLive

Sep 16 - "Wealthy individuals are also generally linked to a number of trusts and companies, some of which are used as vehicles to channel and hide their assets and income."

India: Dark tidings for the black money fight Business Standard

Aug 25 - "India's progress has been painfully slow despite strengthening global information-sharing networks."

Swiss Banks Stand to Lose Hundreds of Billions The Epoch Times
Sep 17 - "Hundreds of billions of dollars could be moved out of Swiss banks as clients attempt to flee a coordinated crackdown on tax evasion, UBS’s Jürg Zeltner told magazine Schweizer Bank ... The crackdown will likely cost Switzerland its tax-haven status."

UK MP slams corrupt, repressive Jersey Treasure Islands

Sep 19 - Nick Shaxson cites Rico Sorda, a ‘rebel’ Jersey blogger, commenting on a statement by UK MP John Hemming.

US: The Real Tax Injustice TJN-USA
Sep - Statement on recent observations of presidential candidate Mitt Romney, from Nicole Tichon, Executive Director of Tax Justice Network USA.

The Rich Haven’t Always Hated Taxes Time
Sep 18 - "Once upon a time, the wealthy elite took pride in the fact that they paid higher rates than other Americans..."

US Lawyers Urge Fresh Transfer Pricing Guidance Tax-News
Sep 19 - Chair of the Section of Taxation within the American Bar Association has written a letter to the Commissioner of the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), with comments and recommendations for guidance on the transfer pricing of related party guarantees. For TJN information on transfer pricing see here.

Soccer: Uruguay’s ‘Ghost’ Deals Mount San Francisco Chronicle
Sep 18 - "South American teams and investors in the players’ transfer rights move the athletes’ registrations through Uruguayan clubs to reduce tax on the trades to as little as 5 percent from 20 percent .... Argentina’s tax authority said last month that the arrangements were irregular, and Brazil’s sports minister Aldo Rebelo said soccer ruling body FIFA should outlaw the “ghost” club deals."

Regional body focuses on fight against corruption Cayman News Service
Sep 13 - Reporting on the 20th Meeting of Experts of the Mechanism for Follow-Up on the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption ..."participating countries discussed mutual cooperation to encourage concrete commitments from governments to improve transparency and access to information."

Global crackdown on money laundering gathers pace, experts say TrustLaw
Sep 17 - "Internationally, a range of anti-bribery, tax evasion, asset forfeiture, anti-money laundering and sanctions laws are being used to capture criminals and rogue government officials. Banks are central to the crackdown since they are the conduits for the trillions of dollars in illicit financial flows each year."

See also:
Money-Laundering Inquiry Is Said to Aim at U.S. Banks New York Times

Sep 14 - "... officials say they are beginning one of the most aggressive crackdowns on money-laundering in decades, intended to send a signal to the nation’s biggest banks that weak compliance is unacceptable."

Robot wars: How high frequency trading changed global markets The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
Sep 16 - "Welcome to the world’s most intense electronic battle. It’s waged on world stock markets and the ammunition is tiny fractions of pennies, fired through super-charged computers. The object is to wipe out the opposition..."

US: A Rare Look at Why The Government Won't Fight Wall Street Rolling Stone Taibblog
Sep 18 - "The great mystery story in American politics these days is why, over the course of two presidential administrations (one from each party), there’s been no serious federal criminal investigation of Wall Street during a period of what appears to be epic corruption ..."

Money on an Island - The Apopalyptics
"Fighting the injustice of tax avoidance in the face of cuts; getting the message out with a hip hop music video." This is interesting - remember though that it isn't just about small islands. It is predominantly about places like the UK that run the small islands, and the UK itself, that are the big problems - see the Financial Secrecy Index.

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