Malta assumed the European Union’s rotating presidency this year. However, as the EU moves to crackdown on tax evasion in the wake of the Panama Papers scandal, the tiny island nation has faced charges that it helped major multinationals avoid paying billions in taxes to other EU member states, and therefore, possibly unfit for the presidency.
Former Goldman Sachs partner and hedge fund manager Steven Mnuchin is President Trump’s controversial pick for Treasury Secretary. It is alleged that Mnuchin failed to disclose an estimated $100 million in real estate assets on his financial disclosure forms, which he was required to fill out and submit before his Senate confirmation hearing.
The Caribbean island nation of Bermuda tops major international NGO Oxfam’s list of the world’s worst corporate tax havens. In developing the list, Oxfam took a number of factors into consideration, including the practices of offering tax incentives deemed to be unproductive or unfair, a corporate tax rate set at zero or an extremely low rate, and failure to collaborate with international tax authorities to combat international tax avoidance.
A number of tax havens under British control are demanding a say in Brexit negotiations. Several British overseas territories, including Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, and Turks…
A United Nations expert has urged António Guterres, the newly selected UN secretary-general, to take immediate action to address tax havens. Alfred de Zayas, the UN’s independent expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, has said that the appointment of Guterres offers a new opportunity for the world to tackle illicit financial flows, urging the UN to draft a convention that would ban tax havens worldwide.