CORRUPTION NEWSIFF tracker identifies SA’s main vulnerability as outward foreign investment 15 Jun 2021, 8:35 Image: Michael Kuhlmann for UNCTAD Over one trillion dollars. That’s the amount of money that Africa is estimated to have lost in illicit financial flows (IFFs) over the past 50 years (Kar and Cartwright-Smith, 2010; Africa Growth Initiative, 2020). The current estimate is an annual amount of around $50-billion, and possibly more – a significant Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS OECD a “rich countries club” helping firms commit tax abuse, TJN shows 10 May 2021, 12:51 In part 3 of our new mini-series on financial secrecy, we focus on the Corporate Tax Haven Index (CTHI), published by the Tax Justice Network (TJN) – the 2021 edition, released in March, is the second since 2019. Part 1 of the series looked at the definition of and gave information on secrecy jurisdictions and Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS Global financial secrecy declines, SA remains stagnant on secrecy index 30 Apr 2021, 13:55 The term ‘secrecy jurisdiction’ might, for many, conjure up the image of a fortified bank vault deep underground in a Swiss city, or a tropical island teeming with wealthy individuals and located far away from troublesome laws and regulations. And indeed, the world’s greatest enabler of global financial secrecy is currently the sunny Cayman Islands, Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS Financial secrecy – dangerous, destructive, and enabling corruption 21 Apr 2021, 10:21 In our new mini-series we’ll delve into the issue of financial secrecy – what it is, who enables it, how does it affect economies, which are the big culprits, and what role does corruption play? The series is based on two reports released by the Tax Justice Network (TJN) – the biennial Financial Secrecy Index, Read more >
OPINIONS Africa can clamp down on illicit flows by using AUCPCC effectively 10 Jul 2020, 17:25 By Sabeehah Motala Illicit financial flows (IFFs) are costing Africa $30-billion to $40-billion per year and have eroded African countries’ tax bases, hampering their abilities to respond effectively to Covid-19 emergency needs. Lockdown, states of emergency, and all the accompanying implications mean that developing states are more vulnerable than ever to the possibility of illicit Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS What is a tax haven? Offshore finance, explained 08 Jul 2020, 9:44 In May 2020 Mauritius, curiously one of the African countries that perform well on the annual Corruption Perceptions Index, was listed by the European Commission (EC) as a high-risk country for money laundering and funding of terrorism. It was joined on the revised EC list by Botswana, Ghana, and Zimbabwe, among others. The former is Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS New campaign wages war against tax evasion 11 Feb 2020, 14:00 By Thato Mahlangu A new anti-crime campaign is set to crack the whip on tax evaders. Anti-crime activist Yusuf Abramjee told Corruption Watch on Monday, 10 February 2020, that the campaign, called Tax Justice South Africa, will target tax evaders who rob tax payers of a better life. It was launched in November last year. Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS Poor ‘golden visa’ due diligence a gift to the corrupt 12 Mar 2019, 8:24 By Daniel GayneFirst published on Global Witness Yesterday, 11 March, was Commonwealth Day, and this year’s theme was A Connected Commonwealth. How appropriate – it is after all, the Commonwealth’s incredible connectedness that has made its members such successful players in the fast-expanding US$3-billion ‘Golden Visa’ market. Golden visas – or citizenship-by-investment programmes for those Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS Global financial secrecy revealed in the 2018 FSI 01 Mar 2018, 16:10 The 2018 Financial Secrecy Index (FSI), an initiative of the Tax Justice Network (TJN), was launched recently. The FSI ranks jurisdictions according to their secrecy and the scale of their offshore financial activities. It shies away from being political, positioning itself instead as a tool for understanding global financial secrecy, tax havens or secrecy jurisdictions, Read more >