Anonymous private wealth. Luxurious homes, state-of-the-art yachts and aircraft, priceless jewellery, valuable pieces of art, and more. Symbols of an ever-increasing global problem of financial inequality, and a proven driver also of corruption and tax abuse. Such wealth in the hands of a mere fraction of the global population is unsustainable – and as long Read more >
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OPINIONS
First published on Financial Transparency Coalition During the last decade, Russia has expanded its interests and presence in Africa by investing in the mining sector and increasing military support to fragile states, primarily through private military contractors and mercenaries. One of Africa’s most prominent private military groups is the Wagner Group, believed to be financed by one Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS
Illicit financial flows create an unjust society and further worsen inequality, especially for underdeveloped countries. This is the message from the Tax Justice Network (TJN), which released its 2022 Financial Secrecy Index (FSI) on 16 May. The FSI is a ranking of jurisdictions which fuel financial secrecy by helping individuals to hide their finances from Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS
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
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
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
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 >
PRESS RELEASES
04 October 2020 Issued by the C19 People’s Coalition. The C-19 People’s Coalition unreservedly supports the spirit and the demands of the national strike of 7 October. The reasons are indisputable. South Africa, even before the Covid-19 crisis, was already becoming poorer. A quarter of our people suffered from extreme poverty. Government presided over one Read more >
OPINIONS
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 >