Introducing The Corruption Diaries

Blockchain havens

"This will supersede them all." Offshore specialist and human rights lawyer Paul Beckett of Corlett Bolton & Co sounds the alarm on the fast development of 'blockchain havens.'

The Tax Justice Network's Bob Michel speaks about the challenges regulators, anti-corruption campaigners and poorer nations face.

A transcript of the podcast is available here: https://podcasts.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Blockchain-havens-transcript-2.pdf

Further reading/resources:

• Paul Beckett's book: An Anatomy of Tax Havens: Europe, the Caribbean and the United States of America https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110985108/html
• Beneficial Ownership and Legal Responsibility: Concealment, Avoidance and Impunity, also by Paul Beckett https://www.routledge.com/Beneficial-Ownership-and-Legal-Responsibility-Concealment-Avoidance-and-Impunity/Beckett/p/book/9781032537603
• Offshoring DAO Foundations: Top Legal Considerations https://dilendorf.com/resources/offshoring-dao-foundations-top-legal-considerations.html

You can find all previous Taxcasts on the Taxcast website: https://podcasts.taxjustice.net/production/taxcast/

Crime DOES pay...?

Crime doesn't pay - or does it?! Taxcast host Naomi Fowler talks to former police investigator, asset recovery specialist and co-author of The War on Dirty Money Tristram Hicks about the state of criminal asset recovery: "We haven't started the war on dirty money. There's this disconnect that's taking place at a strategic level."

PLUS: The Tax Justice Network's Alex Cobham analyses Australia's much awaited, revised (aka watered down) legislation to tackle multinational tax abuse - disappointing but still significant. AND: a model wealth tax law has been agreed by consensus at the United Nations. We expected the OECD to try to block it but they didn't - why?

A transcript of the show is available here: (some is automated)

https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Taxcast-March-2024-Transcript.pdf

Further reading:

The War on Dirty Money, by Tristram Hicks and Nicholas Gilmour

Dirty Money: Tristram Hicks on Substack

UN agrees plan for wealth tax law blueprint https://taxjustice.net/press/un-agrees-plan-for-wealth-tax-law-blueprint/

The Tax Justice Network hails a breakthrough in corporate tax transparencyhttps://taxjustice.net/press/tax-justice-network-hails-a-major-breakthrough-in-corporate-tax-transparency/

The country by country reporting path to global justice https://taxjustice.net/events/the-country-by-country-path-to-global-justice/

The FT confirms the OECD lobbied against Australian tax transparency
https://taxjustice.net/press/ft-confirms-oecd-lobbied-against-australian-tax-transparency/

The investor case for public country by country tax reporting https://thefactcoalition.org/report/a-material-concern-the-investor-case-for-public-country-by-country-tax-reporting/

Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 https://www.ukciu.gov.uk/(xwxqxm55yk5tzxbr0dznv2en)/Information/info.aspx?InfoSection=Legislation

HMRC/UK tax authority staff paying for themselves many times over https://www.taxjustice.uk/tax-takes-6.html

Our website with all our podcasts is https://podcasts.taxjustice.net/

Taxing multinationals, unitary-style

While we wait for a global tax body at the United Nations, what are the ways forward for nations desperate to tax multinationals fairly? We talk unitary taxation in a special extended interview with Emeritus Law Professor, coordinator of the BEPS Monitoring Group and Tax Justice Network special advisor Sol Picciotto.

Plus: the return of our analysis slot - Taxcast host Naomi Fowler talks to Zorka Milin of the FACT Coalition about the US's new beneficial ownership registry and its shortcomings; and a tale of two crimes: the punishment of a whistleblower versus a magic circle lawyer in a $6000 suit.

Transcript available here: https://podcasts.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Feb-2024-Taxcast-Transcript.pdf

Guests:

• Alison Shultz, TaxJustice Network
• Zorka Milin,FACT Coalition
• Sol Picciotto, veteran tax justice champion, emeritus professor of law, coordinator of theBEPS Monitoring Groupwhich analyzes efforts to tackle profit shifting by multinationals, andTax Justice Network senior advisor
• Produced and presented byNaomi Fowler of the Tax Justice Network.

Further reading:

Beneficial Ownership Reporting Begins Under Corporate Transparency Act: https://thefactcoalition.org/u-s-beneficial-ownership-reporting-begins-groundbreaking-anti-bribery-bill-signed-into-law-just-the-facts-1-8-24/

Roadmap to Effective Beneficial Ownership Transparency (Tax Justice Network) https://taxjustice.net/2023/02/07/roadmap-to-effective-beneficial-ownership-transparency-rebot/

Charles Littlejohn pleads guilty to one count of disclosing tax return information https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68131435

The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax (ProPublica) https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax

Former Freshfields partner sentenced to jail for German tax fraud https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/ex-freshfields-partner-gets-35-year-sentence-german-tax-fraud-2024-01-30/

Ex-Freshfields lawyer convicted over tax fraud received €2mn severance pay (FT paywall) https://www.ft.com/content/28fc06cb-b9db-4af4-a854-297c3ba5b4e4

Beyond the Two Pillar Proposals.A Simplified Approach for Taxing Multinationals https://www.southcentre.int/tax-cooperation-policy-brief-no-36-26-october-2023/

BEPS Monitoring Group: https://www.bepsmonitoringgroup.org/

Our website with further information and more podcasts: https://podcasts.taxjustice.net/

#139 People Power

On the Taxcast this month: People power for tax justice is on the rise like never before. We kick off 2024 with inspiring stories on campaigns for tax reform from around the world: strategies, successes, limitations, and what we can learn from the first in-depth studies of their kind by International Budget Partnership.

Plus: Malawian poet and Senior Tax Investigations Officer Robert Chiwamba pays tribute to tax collectors everywhere. You can watch him perform We Will Count Them here.

Transcript of the show: https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Taxcast_transcript_Jan_2024.pdf (Some is automated)

Guests:

Robert Chiwamba, Malawian poet and Senior Tax Investigations Officer (his youtube site is here, WATCH him performing his poem We Will Count Them https://youtu.be/V95_Yd8Dfhs )

Greg Leroy of Good Jobs First

Paolo de Renzio, formerly Senior Research Fellow with the International Budget Partnership, now Senior Lecturer at the Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration of Fundação Getúlio Vargas in Rio de Janeiro.

Produced and presented by Naomi Fowler of the Tax Justice Network.

Further reading:

A Taxing Journey: How Civic Actors Influence Tax Policy (open access – free pdf from International Budget Partnership https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/monograph?docid=b-9781350344648and a summary paper on that work here: https://internationalbudget.org/publications/a-taxing-journey-how-civic-actors-influence-tax-policy/

Beneficial Ownership reporting begins in the US: https://thefactcoalition.org/u-s-beneficial-ownership-reporting-begins-groundbreaking-anti-bribery-bill-signed-into-law-just-the-facts-1-8-24/

Proud to Pay More: 260+ millionaires and billionaires from 17 countries ask governments to tax them more https://proudtopaymore.org/

The EU Court ruling on Beneficial Ownership registries in 2022 https://taxjustice.net/press/eu-court-returns-eu-to-dark-ages-of-dirty-money/

A Tax Justice Network report on how to fix beneficial ownership frameworks https://taxjustice.net/2023/12/20/new-report-on-how-to-fix-beneficial-ownership-frameworks-so-they-actually-work/

Introducing The Corruption Diaries

In this brand new Tax Justice Network weekly podcast we take listeners on a journey through the eyes of anti-corruption veterans who were on the frontline of events that have defined our world today, with stories and perspectives on reform you won't hear anywhere else.

In Series 1 we sit down with leading white collar crime lawyer and senior Tax Justice Network adviser Jack Blum who tells us about his life's work during a period of huge geopolitical change and transformed global tax and financial systems. From the BCCI scandal, to Panamanian dictator Noriega’s cocaine trafficking, to Lockheed Aircraft’s overseas bribes - Jack was there.

Every Wednesday we'll release a new episode. Don't miss it! Subscribe on your podcast app: https://pod.link/1721797109

The Corruption Diaries is produced by Naomi Fowler and Jo Barratt of the Tax Justice Network. Interviews with Jack Blum were recorded over several days at Jack’s home in Maryland by journalist Zoe Sullivan.