Webinar: Countering Illicit Flows and Tax Avoidance

Speakers
Alex Cobham, Research Fellow, Center for Global Development
Joanna Fitch, Corporate Governance, UK Department for Business, Innovation & Skills

Description
How can governments use their OGP Action plans to counter illicit flows and tax avoidance?

Opaque company ownership and accounts, and mispriced trade through secrecy jurisdictions (‘tax havens’) can allow assets and income streams to be moved around, and hidden. This allows fraud, market manipulation, money laundering, theft of public assets, financing of terrorism, and tax evasion, undermining public budgets and the rule of law.

International rules and institutions are critical, but each country has a responsibility to raise its own standards – to limit abuses and support improved corporate governance both domestically, and for trading partners. What are the steps that governments can take to improve financial transparency and counter illicit flows as part of their OGP Action Plans?

This webinar, which draws on the Tax and Illicit Flows topic from the Open Government Guide (http://www.opengovguide.com ) looks at steps that governments can take, including;
• Require minimum standards for company filing and disclosure, and publish data online
• Establish a system to exchange information automatically with tax authorities
• Establish robust registers of beneficial ownership
• Require combined and country-by-country reporting by multinational companies operating in the jurisdiction
• Publish information on taxes
• Publish registers of company beneficial ownership, and of parties to trusts and foundations as open, machine-readable data
• Establish a system for monitoring customs declarations in real time to detect abuse
• Establish ‘follow the money’ partnerships to curtail trade mispricing
ACCESS THE RECORDED WEBINAR HERE: http://worldbankva.adobeconnect.com/p6o0mplwkn6/