These are my links for January 28th:
BBC NEWS | Isle of Man | Minister hails ’strong’ economy - Another finance minister whistling in the wind
FT.com / - Poor governance can boot a country out of the industry - The EITI has problems with some countries who are not buying into the governance systems. But [...]
The FT has reported that:
The intensifying credit crunch is so severe that lower interest rates alone will not be enough “to get out of the turmoil we are in”, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, warned at the weekend.
In a dramatic volte face for an international body that as recently as [...]
The Telegraph has a long feature by Robert Preston which is an extract from his new book, Who Runs Britain? in which he looks at the roots of the current financial crisis and blames a political pact with the super-rich for impoverishing the rest of us. As he says:
There is collusion between most politicians, bankers [...]
The FT reports that:
Singapore’s Government Investment Corporation has promised greater disclosure about its activities, amid mounting concerns about the secretive fund’s influence after high-profile investments in UBS and Citigroup.
But, it noted that Tony Tan, deputy chairman of GIC and a former Singapore deputy prime minister, said:
Concerns in Europe and the United States were understandable and [...]
The Sunday Times reports of the new rules for non-domiciled people in the UK that:
It was initially thought that offshore trusts would be exempt and that they would be able to sell assets free of capital gains tax, even if those assets were situated in the UK.
However, the newly released consultation paper indicates that any [...]
The Independent reports that:
Simon Walker, chief executive of the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA), has warned that growing resentment of government tax changes could cause as many as 100 buyout firms to quit Britain for tax havens abroad.
He said that he was aware of an increased number of approaches from Swiss tax [...]
The Tax Justice Network has updated its two page summary of why country-by-country reporting is essential for multinational corporations, as the current credit crisis is proving almost daily.
The new version is available for download here.
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “Country-by-country reporting: a new summary of why this is essential”, url: “http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2008/01/28/country-by-country-reporting-a-new-summary-of-why-this-is-essential/” });
Quoted to me this morning:
Markets are like gardens: if you don’t plan them with care and prune them regularly they run wild.
I rather like that.
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “Markets are like gardens”, url: “http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2008/01/28/markets-are-like-gardens/” });
Who is this?
For those not familiar, it’s Jame Purnell, the new minister for work and pensions. He’s quoted in the Observer today as saying:
Labour is ‘ideologically neutral’ between the three sectors - private, public and voluntary.
If that is his real opinion (and I can of course doubt that) this says one of three things: he [...]
The Observer has reported:
Tax avoidance by the super-rich costs the British taxpayer £13bn a year - enough money to increase old-age pensions by 20 per cent.
The first ever forensic study of Revenue figures to establish the true scale of tax avoidance by some of the wealthiest people in Britain will pile pressure on the government [...]
