Manchester United, the world renowned English football club, is facing hard times financially. Although the club’s world class reputation speaks for itself (19 championships and a home to scores of star footballers), the club still depends heavily on cash flow. In 2005, the Glazer family (also owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) bought out Manchester United from the London Stock Exchange for $1.47 billion, successfully taking on full ownership of the club (despite vehement public opposition.) Now, 7 years later, Man U is facing a massive debt crisis, according to the Associated Press.
Tax Haven USA: New York Times Articles Expose Need to Abolish Anonymous U.S. Shell Companies Global Financial Integrity (Press Release), July 3, 2012 Call for strategy to recover stolen cash IPP Media (Tanzania), July 4, 2012 Vatican receives money-laundering report Reuters, July 4, 2012 Judge rejects release of suspect in cartel money-laundering case Austin American-Statesman, [...]
Where the Money Lives Vanity Fair, July 3, 2012 Keep the Dictators Out of Malibu The New York Times (Op-Ed), July 2, 2012 Agencies get nearly $3M for helping IRS inquiry Sun Sentinel, July 2, 2012 Millions Disbursed to Agencies in Wachovia Money Laundering Case NBC Miami, July 2, 2012 Miami money-laundering case spotlights link [...]
Hopes of democratic improvements and economic stability in Burma are being threatened by American oil companies who are quickly rushing in to capitalize on Burma’s newly-open market. With the agreement of Thein Sein, the president of Burma, the U.S. has recently guided Burma towards a more open society in hopes of leading to sustainable economic and governmental structures — all foreign components to the unstable Burmese nation.
Burma also happens to be resource rich. This has brought about the inevitable swarm of U.S. resource companies to Burma’s doorstep, all hoping to stake their claim on the reserves. Using sanctions as the primary means of helping Burma, the U.S. is endangering their effectiveness as discussions ensue about modulating them to allow extractive companies the right to sign contracts for mineral rights in Burma. The Washington Post’s Editorial Board describes how this would be a big mistake:
How Transnational Crime Hinders Development—and What to Do About It Council on Foreign Relations (blog), June 26, 2012 Combating Facilitators of Crime and Terrorism Global Financial Integrity, June 25, 2012 FATF Blacklists Ecuador, Yemen, Vietnam, Upgrades Philippines The Wall Street Journal (blog), June 25, 2012 PH gets upgrade for anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing laws [...]
Marina Hyde wrote a great article for The Guardian on Friday. As we’ve seen in the media, tax avoidance schemes and scandals are popping up everywhere. Jimmy Carr’s explosive case exemplifies this upward trend of tax avoidance. Hyde brings to light one particular way (of numerous ways) in which Brits are getting rich from skipping out on their tax bill: they make shoddy “Britflicks.”
Corruption, Drug and Gun Crime, Tax Evasion Caused Mexico to Lose $872 Billion in 4 Decades Hispanically Speaking News, June 20, 2012 UAE reviews anti-money laundering measures with US and Russia Khaleej Times (United Arab Emirates), June 21, 2012 Cuba brushes off Miami money laundering allegations Reuters, June 20, 2012 UBS fined for anti-money laundering [...]
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a 118-page lawsuit this week regarding the alleged corrupt practices of Teodoro Nguema Obiang, son of the President of Equatorial Guinea. The lawsuit, among other things, requested that a U.S. judge confiscate many of Obiang’s lavish possessions because they were obtained using the proceeds of alleged corruption. The DOJ’s [...]
To Ensure Stability, G20 Should Tackle Tax Haven Secrecy, Curtail Illicit Financial Flows GFI (Press Release), June 18, 2012 The northern roots of southern Europe’s revenue problem Transparency International (Press Release), June 15, 2012 Coming To America (to launder his millions?) The Independent (UK), June 16, 2012 Provide infrastructure for anti-money laundering’ The Nation (Nigeria), [...]
Task Force coordinating committee member Global Witness released Grave Secrecy today, a report telling the story of companies which were used to launder the proceeds of corruption, tax evasion and other crimes. The report shows how shell companies based the UK, Bulgaria, and New Zealand were used to launder corrupt money originating from Kyrgyzstan’s AsiaUniversialBank.
The Financial Crimes That Are Destroying The Economy Of The Developing World Fast Company, June 14, 2012 Indian Telecom Company Bharti Airtel Ordered To Pay Rs 7 Billion For Tax Evasion International Business Times, June 15, 2012 Tax avoidance campaigners can challenge Goldman deal BBC, June 13, 2012 Punjab tightens its noose on tax evaders [...]
The developing world has long been plagued with poverty, political turmoil, and corruption. This vicious cycle has been extensively researched, combated, and discussed from many different angles, but nothing has been able to completely ‘solve’ it. While it is unrealistic to seek a blanket solution to the issues that keep countries perpetually poor and unstable, one must look at the wider spectrum of developmental issues and ask, “Why do they persist?” Oscar Abello brings to light one huge reason why they do: financial opacity.
This morning I have published a short new book entitled The Finance Curse: how oversized ...
May 23, 2013
When I lived in Argentina in the mid 1990s, most of our friends still acutely ...
May 22, 2013
Do you care about stamping out corruption, money laundering and tax dodging? The Financial Transparency ...
May 21, 2013
The solutions to problems are often implicit in the way they are framed. If I ...
May 15, 2013
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