Swiss bankers, and many other tax haven operatives, have always complained that they are unfairly victimised by international anger over their financial secrecy practices. “What about Delaware,” they routinely asked, “how come they can get away with it?”
And, at least in this respect, they had a point, even though it was merely a cheap exercise in what-aboutism. But, as of January 1, no longer:
Particularly in the wake of the tumultuous events of last week, it feels as though America’s divisions are so deep that our government cannot take meaningful action. However, there have been recent moments of successful bipartisan cooperation that deserve celebration.
On the eve of International Anti-Corruption Day, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an historic measure to end anonymous companies by a veto-proof margin. The Corporate Transparency Act, included in the annual “must-pass” defense bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act, is expected to become law before the end of the year. As we mark International Anti-Corruption Day, this significant step forward for the U.S., which has historically lagged behind other nations–hopefully ushers in a new era of U.S. leadership on transparency and anti-corruption.
As part of our work to tackle this problem of tax avoidance and ensure the government is well-funded, the FACT Coalition held two virtual briefings for Congressional staffers in October to discuss remedies to combat egregious tax avoidance by large multinational corporations.
The House has shown it’s serious about ending the abuse of anonymous companies. Now the Senate must get this reform across the finish line.
Corruption thrives in crisis. As the nation rushes to stop the bleeding of the COVID-19 pandemic, new opportunities arise for bad actors—common criminals, corrupt officials, U.S. adversaries, and authoritarian regimes—to exploit gaps in the U.S. financial system for their own gain. Congress must spend the coming weeks not only readying the next economic response to COVID-19 but also tackling the long-standing vulnerability of U.S. financial secrecy, to keep the trajectory of the national and global recovery on course.
