Another insight into what Gordon Brown means on tax havens

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The BBC has reported Gordon Brown’s comments at yesterday's Scottish Labour Party conference. He said:

it was time to establish a "global framework for international supervision" and to bring tax havens and the shadow banking system "into the regulatory net".

I think this especially interesting.

The issue is not tax rates (thankfully: this is not an area where the G20 can win). The issue is regulation.

This moves the debate much more towards that on secrecy jurisdictions, as I define them:

Secrecy jurisdictions are places that intentionally create regulation for the primary benefit and use of those not resident in their geographical domain that is designed to undermine the legislation or regulation of another jurisdiction and that, in addition, create a deliberate, legally backed veil of secrecy that ensures that those from outside the jurisdiction making use of its regulation cannot be identified to be doing so.

Regulation is key here, you’ll note. Tax rates are not.

The fact is that despite what they claim the secrecy jurisdictions have been largely unregulated and that regulation there has been has, like onshore banking regulation, wholly inappropriately targeted.

I welcome this new insight.

Things are moving in the right direction for me right now.


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