I make no apology for two exclamation marks in the title of this blog. I am excited to note that the FT says this morning:
[The EU] parliament also prevailed in requiring banks to reveal their taxes and profits on a country-by-country basis from 2015, as long as the extra transparency is not judged by the European Commission as an impediment to inward investment.
Over 200,000 people signed the Avaaz petition demanding this reform in just over 24 hours. If you did, thank you. Sharon Bowles MEP and Philip Lambert MEP have to be thanked for what they did on this issue. All NGO colleagues who have worked on it receive my grateful thanks. And of course I know it is not quite in the bag yet, but as the FT also note:
Ireland will on Thursday present the draft deal to EU ambassadors, who may decide to ask ministers to approve the final terms. Michel Barnier, the EU commissioner responsible for the reforms, said it was “difficult to imagine now that we would scrap this compromise”.
A gauntlet has been thrown down. It will be very hard indeed for an EU wide measure to be deemed anti-competitive. That would be absurd. I am cautiously optimistic, not least because the momentum for change has been created.
There was opposition though:
George Osborne, the UK chancellor who led frantic diplomatic efforts to blunt the curbs, must now decide whether to force a debate or a formal vote at a meeting of finance ministers next week.
Wasn't it ever so? This is the man who sings the praises of country-by-country reporting for Africa and does not want it here. That is pure hypocrisy. We need it very badly in this country, in banking, and in due course for all business in whatever sector it is in.
I find it hard to believe we have made this progress. It seems a long way from here, where this journey began in 2003, but sooner now than I might have expected I think country-by-country reporting will be a reality for global business. And that is appropriate, because it is all about holding global capital to account locally, which is precisely what it does not want to be.
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Richard,
General question. BBC Jersey employ the services of a man called Adam Kirtley as their UK Business correspondent. He was on this morning, talking about the smaller issue of bankers’ bonuses tied to this legislation, and he said, “This won’t affect you, you’re not in the EU”.
Now I know for a fact that Jersey is in the EU – its membership is governed by Protocol 3 of the UK’s accession treaty. Do the limitations of P3 mean that country-by-country will be implemented here, or could the UK hide Jersey under its skirts?
The regulation will apply to the worldwide affairs of EU regulated banks
I think you will find Jersey bonuses will be in
And as for CBC – emphatically Jersey will be disclosed
Thanks, noted.
Not sure how else to contact you Richard, but you should be aware that HMRC is funding research into Tax Gap Analysis – might be worth you publicising
http://www.exeter.ac.uk/studying/funding/award/?id=1140
I know about it
Yet more spending to try to discredit me…..
Absolutely, because this has be arranged at the behest of the Big 4 infiltration of HMRC! Rather than invest money in HMRC staff they would rather crank up the propaganda machine….
Well done. You deserve a huge amount of credit for this.
Brilliant stuff!!! “…as long as the extra transparency is not judged by the European Commission as an impediment to inward investment.” Expect a lot of lobbying from banks about that last point. And expect Osborne and Cameron to use such to appeal to Eurosceptic libertarians who would class this as ‘red tape’: red tape usually being whatever legislation they happen not to like…
This really shows the importance of offering workable alternatives that benefit the majority over the minority.
So it looks like the fight is about to really kick off Richard…
http://www.thisisjersey.com/business/2013/02/28/jersey-%E2%80%98should-say-no-to-the-uk-over-tax-disclosure-deal%E2%80%99/
Yes I am a Jersey born resident and totally sick to the back teeth with what the so called clean and well regulated finance industry has done to this once beautiful place I call home.
Of course, they’ll happily kowtow to the US…..
I sympathise Steve, I’m sick to the back teeth with what is going on in the UK…I had thought that we had done away with the feudal system here…but no it appears that a small minority hiding behind the corporate veil wish to reintroduce it!