Behind the scenes my colleagues and I have been working hard on the G8 summit which is held next week. This article in The Tablet summarises why. As that article says, it's time for the world to live up to the promises it made two years ago.

The Tax Justice Network want three things from this summit:

1. International co-operation on effective tax information exchange;

2. Market transparency through public disclosure of ownership of legal entities;

3. An create international standards for transparent corporate accounting on a country-by-country basis.

We believe that these must be pursued as vigorously as the campaigns against terrorist and drugs financing and money-laundering. The reason is simply stated. Offshore secrecy harms Africa by promoting corrupt practices, including embezzlement, market rigging, fraudulent trade mispricing, and tax evasion.

It is within the power of the G8 to do this. Have they got the will?