City watchdogs say Barclays adopted a no-questions-asked policy Bank did not check where ultra-wealthy clients’ money came from £72million fine has been imposed on the bank for turning a blind eye Barclays has been shamed over a murky £1.9billion deal with ultra-wealthy clients which left the country vulnerable to financial… – Continue reading
When the first flames of the Arab Spring began to burn, a Tunisia suffering from decades of mismanagement, inequality and abuse broke free from under the long reign of Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali. As the government fell and the turmoil in the country spread across the region, the sheer scale… – Continue reading
The World Bank has placed India twelve notches higher than last year in its Ease of Doing Business rankings for 2016. This comes close on the heels of the country’s sixteen place leap on the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness index. These rankings underline the impact of the recent spate… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: In a major scam tax evasion of hundreds of billions of rupees and whitening of black money worth trillions of rupees take place every year with the government authorities facilitating the extremely undervalued sales and purchases of thousands of residential and commercial properties throughout the country every day. While… – Continue reading
Now that’s what I call a Big Tax Case A long running court case that has become known as the ‘Big Tax Case’ appears to be reaching a conclusion. It involves Scottish football club Rangers, who went bust in 2012. After it failed, a new company was created. It bought… – Continue reading
BRUNO Manser Funds (BMF) is investigating an art painting donated to the Art Gallery of South Australia by a a company linked to Abdul Taib Mahmud, a Malaysian politician who ruled Sarawak for over three decades. The conservation group is calling on the art gallery to disclose the full value… – Continue reading
18 November 2015 – The Group of 20 (G20) leaders have called for more collective action to achieve strong, sustainable and balanced growth that can be universally beneficial. In a communique issued at the end of the summit, the leaders agreed that not only do they have to do more… – Continue reading
Antalya, Nov. 16: The Group of 20 nations today pledged to adopt sound macroeconomic policies to achieve strong, sustainable balanced growth. The near-term objective would be to support growth, create jobs and put debt as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) on a sustainable path. Data show that several… – Continue reading
The FINANCIAL — Apostle Matthew was a tax collector in Galilee — perhaps the most hated occupation in the ancient world. By quitting his job and deciding to follow Jesus, Mathew accomplished one the greatest transformations possible in a person’s life. Modern tax inspectors are certainly not expected to follow… – Continue reading
Early last week, Greece’s financial prosecutors sent a long letter to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, urging him to appoint more inspectors and expert staff to boost their efforts to raise much-needed revenue from tax evasion, Kathimerini understands. The 26-page letter, the second to be sent to Tsipras this year, was… – Continue reading
PSDB amendment in Lower House cuts Speaker Cunha out of deal, but Senate still has final say BRASILIA — The Lower House of Brazil’s Congress has approved a controversial amnesty bill for undeclared offshore assets, despite criticism from opposition lawmakers who say it would allow the laundering of illegally gained… – Continue reading
Corporate corruption is still prevalent in rich Group of 20 nations despite their pledges last year to close loopholes, according to Transparency International. It has listed Brazil, China and the US among the offenders. Transparency International on Thursday labeled this weekend’s G20 summit in Turkey as a mere “photo opportunity,”… – Continue reading
VALLETTA) – Senegalese President Macky Sall called Thursday for multinationals to pay their fair share of taxes following a summit with EU leaders aimed at curbing the poverty fuelling mass migration to Europe. Sall also said Africans should receive a a fair price for their natural resources when he addressed… – Continue reading
BRASILIA, Nov 11 (Reuters) – The lower house of Brazil’s Congress approved amnesty for undeclared offshore assets on Wednesday despite criticism from opposition lawmakers who said it would allow the laundering of illegally gained money. To reduce its budget deficit, President Dilma Rousseff’s government is hoping to raise 11 billion… – Continue reading
The National Association of Estate Agents is awaiting a response from the government to its demand for four changes to sale and purchase processes in a bid to combat money-laundering. In one of the association’s first major statements on the issue since the Channel 4 From Russia With Cash documentary,… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: In a bid to tackle high-pitched and unreasonable tax assessment orders, which result in heavy income tax (I-T) demands, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) issued a notification on Monday requiring setting up of local grievance committees across I-T offices in India. The CBDT, in its notification, acknowledges… – Continue reading
Britain has done more to tackle secretive company ownership practices which facilitate corruption than other leading economies, while the United States and China are falling short of their promises, a leading anti-corruption group said. Britain has made good progress on making beneficial ownership information accessible, having legislated for a central… – Continue reading
Kenya’s tax authority has launched a campaign to encourage people to report evasion and to crack down on staff misconduct, it said on Tuesday, after media allegations of corruption. The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) said it will vet staff for misconduct and step up efforts to prevent abuses when calculating… – Continue reading
x The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has slapped higher taxes on importers of second-hand vehicles ahead of a new duty that will push the prices up by Sh200,000. The revenue authority reviewed the current retail selling price of second-hand vehicles in October 15. This is the benchmark the taxman uses… – Continue reading
The opaque governance structure of sports federations makes them less accessible to independent oversight and therefore more prone to corruption, the deputy managing director at Transparency International, a global anti-corruption movement, told Sputnik. ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) – Earlier this year, separate investigations by US and Swiss prosecutors uncovered deep-rooted corruption… – Continue reading
First it was the scourge of public sector corruption, until now the mortifying spectacle of South Africa’s post-apartheid transition. Now, with the ground shifting beneath the world’s sclerotic economy – and the past few years have produced more tremors than ever in the 21 years of democracy – it’s a… – Continue reading
The UK government has a ‘Janus-faced’ approach to tax, a new report suggests: promising an increasingly intolerant approach to evasion and avoidance while being an aggressive participant in global tax competition and tolerating the UK tax havens which facilitate financial crime across the world. The report, Fifty Shades of Tax… – Continue reading
Prime Minister of Mauritius, Anerood Jugnauth, on Tuesday said there will be no revisions to the main provisions of its Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with India as both countries are happy with the existing provisions of the tax treaty. “This treaty between our two countries has been there for… – Continue reading
In a report leased by the international group Financial Secrecy, the group that carries out analysis of how far the legal systems of countries facilitate financial secrecy, Liberia is ranked amongst the top 30 countries in the world that deals in secrecy. While the Government of Liberia continues to boast… – Continue reading
A number of member states are failing to tackle corporate tax avoidance despite media revelations and EU and national-level moves to close loopholes. “It’s clear that in the EU it is business as usual for multinational corporations who want to dodge the rules to lower their tax bills”, said Tove… – Continue reading
New Zealand would do worse than Australia if it was audited right now by the body that sets standards for combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, says the organisation’s former boss. Roger Wilkins, immediate past-president of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), said criticisms of Australia after an… – Continue reading
KIEV, Nov 2 (Reuters) – The Ukrainian parliament and the finance ministry are close to deadlock over planned tax cuts, lawmaker Nina Yuzhanina said on Monday, threatening reforms that are crucial to unlocking a further $4 billion in international loans. Ukraine promised to revamp its tax system under an International… – Continue reading
Vancouver real estate is a Mainland Chinese buyers’ market, study says Groundbreaking study shows 70 per cent of detached homes sold in a six-month period on Vancouver’s west side went to Mainland Chinese buyers; many of them housewives or students with little income. The dominant influence of Chinese investors in… – Continue reading
RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) — Brazil’s Secretariat of Federal Revenue is carrying out an official investigation of Eduardo Cunha, head of House of Representatives, for tax evasion and other fiscal crimes, local daily O Globo said on Wednesday. Started in August, the investigation was based on information which… – Continue reading
A company controlled by Mayor of Belgrade Sinisa Mali and his family obtained more than 10 hectares of agricultural land worth anywhere from €123,000 to € 250,000 (US$140,000 to US$290,000) for free from a privatized state company. Problem is, the land wasn’t the company’s to give, but was still owned… – Continue reading
The European Commission and the World Bank urged Romania on Monday to push ahead in its anti-corruption crackdown by recovering stolen assets following court convictions. Corruption in Romania has deterred foreign investors, while tax evasion and bribery put a further strain on the public finances. Anti-corruption prosecutors have launched investigations… – Continue reading
MTN has consistently prided itself as the foremost telephone company that is getting Nigerians talking the most. Now the South African company is about to set tongues wagging across networks with revelations that it has routinely been shipping billions of naira overseas to avoid paying its fair share of tax… – Continue reading
The Anti-money Laundering (AML) Bill has remained stuck in the Senate Standing Committee on Finance since February this year. The opposition, which has the majority in the upper house, is not letting it go through because of its misplaced fears that it would be misused by the Federal Board of… – Continue reading
The African Union Advisory Board on Corruption (AUABC) recently requested major multinationals operating in Africa to be more open about the taxes and royalties they pay governments to improve transparency and accountability. Although a reasonable request, this is a tall order when you consider that often it is the governments… – Continue reading
David Cameron threw the proverbial cat among the pigeons in July when, with a steely glare at the UK property industry, he warned that the UK must not become “a safe haven for corrupt money from around the world” and that “there is no place for dirty money in Britain”…. – Continue reading
Tunis, — The process of returning Tunisian property and assets frozen in a number of foreign banks in general and in Switzerland, in particular, has not moved an inch. More than four years have elapsed since the fall of former President Ben Ali without any hope of progress on the… – Continue reading
Wealthy investors have snapped up at least £100 billion of property across London using overseas companies in the past six years, new figures reveal today. Official data seen by the Standard shows that since 2008 there have been 27,989 purchases of homes, buildings and land in the capital by shadowy… – Continue reading
Sinisa Mali, the Mayor of Belgrade, has dismissed claims that he owns 24 apartments on the Bulgarian coast. Belgrade Mayor Sinisa Mali has denied a media report that he owns a string of properties in Bulgaria. In a statement, he said he owns only one apartment in Bulgaria, which he… – Continue reading
The BEPS Project involves input from the 34 member countries of the OECD, all G20 members, and more than 40 developing countries. The objective of the BEPS Project is to close gaps in international tax rules, effectively eliminating or substantially reducing BEPS; and to secure government revenues by ensuring that… – Continue reading
EY: Four out of 10 Czech businessmen asked for bribe Four out of 10 Czech entrepreneurs have been explicitly asked for a bribe and up to six out of 10 have encountered the possibility of gaining an advantage in their business in exchange for a bribe, according to a survey… – Continue reading
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The Perkumpulan Prakarsa (Center for Welfare Studies) executive director Setyo Budiantoro viewed that the government must revise the banking secrecy provisions in the Law on Banking to reduce illicit outflows from Indonesia. According to Budi, Indonesia applies regulations that require citizens to report their wealth in all… – Continue reading
The central government is stepping up its anti-graft drive by cracking down on illegal lending and money-laundering operations in a bid to prevent outbound flows of stolen assets. The Ministry of Public Security says “black banks” and illegal currency exchanges have facilitated the flights of a number of former government… – Continue reading
The National Assembly member (NAM) for Foni Bintang Karanai constituency has said that during the recent annual general meeting (AGM) of African Parliamentarian Network on Illicit Financial Flows and Tax (APNIFFT) held in Entebbe, Uganda, African parliamentarians present had applauded the Public Accounts Committee and Public Enterprises Committee (PAC/PEC) of… – Continue reading
No focus on stock markets and other money-laundering machines After all the noisy assertions, only Rs4,147 crore of unaccounted wealth was declared during the special 90-day compliance window of the The Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Act, 2015 (Black Money Bill). Of this, just Rs2,488 crore will… – Continue reading
Authorities in China have been doubling their efforts since April to track down illicit assets exported overseas. The People’s Bank of China, the Ministry of Public Security, the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange have been working together in this operation. Chinese… – Continue reading
KUWAIT: The Cabinet has called on ministers and senior officials of state bodies to submit their financial disclosure reports to the Anti-Corruption Authority as soon as possible. The call was made by the Cabinet during its customary weekly meeting held at Bayan Palace yesterday under chairmanship of HH the Prime… – Continue reading
Both internal and external factors threaten politics, economics Hong Kong’s run of good luck is running out. One obvious sign is the increasing interference of Beijing in its domestic affairs, most recently using tame Chief Executive C.Y. Leung and a clique of yes-men to interfere in a senior academic appointment… – Continue reading
At a recent tax conference a senior Justice Department official reaffirmed the commitment of the U.S. Department of Justice to continue offshore enforcement efforts. As is widely reported the official stated: “We are well beyond Switzerland at this point,” she said, citing enforcement announcements concerning India, Israel, Liechtenstein, Panama, the… – Continue reading
A former head of Australia’s anti-money-laundering agency wants tough rules introduced to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for foreign corrupt funds. Despite credible warnings that large volumes of illicit money leaving China are being laundered in Australia, an investigation by ABC programme Four Corners has found no… – Continue reading
To solve the problem of the haze afflicting Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia, extraterritorial action is needed to quench the forest fires in Indonesia that are generating the haze. A cross-border solution is a necessary answer even if it raises questions of national sovereignty. The Singapore Government should implement laws that… – Continue reading
