OPINIONSAfrica can clamp down on illicit flows by using AUCPCC effectively 10 Jul 2020, 17:25By 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, 9:44In 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, 14:00By 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, 8:24By 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, 16:10The 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 >
CORRUPTION NEWS How does money laundering work? 01 Nov 2017, 12:30Money launderers make use of numerous twists and turns in their efforts to hide their trails, but how does the process really happen? Here’s how. Money laundering is exactly what the words describe – washing the ill-gotten gains of their illegal origins so that what is left cannot easily be traced back to the original Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS The effect of illicit financial flows on Africa 15 Jul 2016, 14:01The problem with illicit financial flows is not just that they are illicit, but that their effect spreads far beyond their immediate area of occurrence. Millions of people are affected, economies are weakened, and development is halted, while a shady few accumulate wealth and influence. A high level conference, held on 14 July at Pretoria Read more >
CAMPAIGNS Public reporting would curb illicit outflows from SA 26 Apr 2016, 15:12They come, they see and – due to relaxed tax and finance laws, or legal firms that have perfected the art of tax avoidance – they conquer a lot more than they invest in Africa. These are multinational companies that find loopholes in the legislation of the continent’s poorest countries and are able to dodge Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS Panama Papers and offshore tax havens 06 Apr 2016, 14:06With Hanna Ziady First published on Moneyweb Image by Mark Lewis Corruption Watch’s executive director David Lewis spoke to financial journalist Hanna Ziady of Moneyweb on Monday, regarding the implications of the leaked Panama Papers, a story that had broken over the weekend. Read the transcript below: Hanna Ziady (HZ): It has been described as Read more >
