Financial Secrecy Index – questions in UK Parliament

Posted on November 4 2009

The 2009 Financial Secrecy Index results were officially launched just a few days ago. You can find them here.

We are very gratified that David Taylor, Member of Parliament for North-West Leicestershire, had this to say about the index in Parliament yesterday:

The Tax Justice Network has done the world a great service in producing its global index of secrecy, which reveals the most secretive financial centres—the City of London being the fifth worst. Why cannot we take an international lead in tackling tax avoidance by first ending the clandestine and corrupting culture that permeates the City of London?

You can find the full text of the exchange between David Taylor and Financial Secretary to the Treasury Stephen Timms here.

Interesting to note that since 2004 the advance disclosure system has reduced tax avoidance losses by an estimated £12 billion. Of course there's plenty more that can be recovered by taking further steps to tackle Britain's avoidance culture, but £12bn will have paid for more than a few new schools and hospitals. And TJN can claim at least some of the credit for building political resolve to tackle this social cancer.

NB: the above reproduced from the TJN blog, with permission

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2 Responses

  1. Jim for Justice says:
    November 4 2009 at 10:05 pm

    Happy will be the day when the Tynwald will be asked: “will the Treasury Minister tell us what steps are being taken by the Treasury & the FSC to identify the nature of the secrecy that is alleged to permeate parts of our financial services industry so that the IoM government can rid the island of its damaging repuation as a secrecy jurisdiction?”

    That day would be even happier if the reply were: “the IoM is not a secrecy jurisdiction & I am proposing that the Treasury should work closely with Tax Research UK in order that this false accusation is resolved once & for all”

    It’s not going to happen 🙁

  2. Georges says:
    November 5 2009 at 6:05 am

    Richard,

    Of course there’s plenty more that can be recovered by taking further steps to tackle Britain’s avoidance culture

    Is this that definition of avoidance which includes perfectly legal exemptions, deductions and allowances?

    Georges