Kerry is at the anti-corruption summit; countries are promising their actions against tax havens

[karynnj]

Last week, Obama put out a statement calling for changes to end secret tax haven accounts in the United States. By itself, this is a big deal even though it is not the first US effort against tax havens. In 2010, Baucus/Kerry wrote an amendment that made it harder to move money into off shore tax havens. The likely revenue increase from that balanced costs in a jobs bill.

However, this is happening at the beginning of what appears to be a huge international anti corruption effort taking place now in London, where Secretary Kerry is representing the US. The goal is making tax havens unacceptable. This is another issue where Obama could not have asked had a better person to lead internationally on this issue than the man who took on BCCI. Secretary Kerry described both Obama's action and the international goal in London.

And we are going to ourselves – President Obama just announced – all 50 states, legislation will be put in place to require transparency with respect to businesses that are registered there. We will in addition engage in additional efforts which were already – we’re going to put $70 million into additional integrity initiative to help with local police training in order to help provide additional ability for digital – for internet transmission of payments, which reduces the opportunity for bribery and graft. And there are many different things that we can do technologically to improve this.

But here’s the most important thing that I think ought to come out of today, Mr. Prime Minister, and again, it takes courage to stand up, because in the beginning of this process there’ll be some outlier nations. They’ll say, “Wow, this is a great advantage. They’re going to tighten up their banking system. It’s an opportunity for us to proffer easier terms and we’ll be” – we have to say no safe harbor anywhere. We have to get the global community to come together and have no impunity to corruption. And the minute people begin to feel that enforcement and a broad standard of application, watch how rapidly the standards change. It’ll – you’ll be amazed at how quick this can happen.

http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2016/05/257130.htm

It will be a huge thing if the international community is able to eliminate ALL tax havens. Back in 2008, I listened to a Finance committee hearing on the Cayman Islands shelters. One person who testified was Jack Blum, who had been the chief investigator for Kerry for the BCCI investigations. One key takeaway was that it would take an international effort to end this.
http://www.finance.senate.gov/hearings/-the-cayman-islands-and-offshore-tax-issues

I do not know the genesis of this anticorruption effort, but various foreign ministers, including Kerry, spoke of anticorruption as a major problem at Davos earlier this year, while not speaking of tax havens specifically. Clearly the Panama Papers added to outrage. Here is a letter from 300 economists calling for ending the tax havens - http://abcnews.go.com/International/300-economists-sign-open-letter-offshore-tax-havens/story?id=38980820

Before leaving for the summit, Kerry wrote this Oped - http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2016/05/257175.htm

He also took the opportunity to speak to students at Oxford. The call for activism on this and other things reminds me of all the college graduations speeches he has given over the years. http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2016/05/257109.htm

But, the time in Oxford was not all just inspiring young students, but when he said near the end that he was soon to have a beer - he was not joking. He joined US Marshall and Rhodes scholars for a beer at Kings Arms in Oxford. (picture rich UPI article - http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World/Photos/John-Kerry-pulls-pints-at-The-Kings-Arms-in-Oxford/fp/10157/ )

[karynnj]

1. Information on the UK and US comments

US - Kerry

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said tens of billions of dollars in stolen money — funds that that could be used for education or building bridges in underdeveloped lands — instead are hidden in banks “in countries including ours.”


"The extremism we see in the world today comes in no small degree from the utter exasperation that people have with the sense that the system is rigged," the top American diplomat said. "And we see this anger manifesting itself in different forms in different elections around the world — including ours."


UK - Cameron:

British Prime Minister David Cameron announced measures, including a public register intended to force companies to name their real owners — a step that British government officials claim will be the first of its kind.

“Why I think this matters so much is that I believe that corruption is the cancer at the heart of so many problems we need to tackle in our world. If we want to see countries escape poverty and become wealthy, we need to tackle corruption,” Cameron said.


http://www.voanews.com/content/kerry-could-face-barbs-anti-corruption-summit/3326360.html

[blm]

3. Great news for anti-corruption Democrats. Kerry is STILL representing our wing

of the party.

[karynnj]

4. And his boss, President Obama

When I went back to read Blum's statement, he speaks of the Carl Levin bill on Tax Haven - and one of the 4 sponsors - back in 2008 was none other than Barack Obama. (In a later year, Sanders became a cosponsor).

I hope that these commitments begin to move the needle on this and lead to tax havens being considered something it is wrong for any country to allow to exist. The first step for the US is to clean up our own places where assets can hide. It will take a lot of energy to push against the vested interests here -- and it would be good if this became a grass roots issue.

It makes sense because on a US level - the existence of tax havens means that some of the people who can use them will -- and there is less money resulting from any tax structure. Cleaning this up is a great way to raise more money without raising taxes ... for anyone but tax cheats. On an international level it is even more important. In many third world countries there are a small number of very rich people and everyone else is poor. If they are cheating, it is not only immoral, it is devastating as the country can't raise money.

I saw in one other article that next year's conference will try to deal with assets taken out of many countries - from Nigeria to Sri Lanka by people formerly in power and return them to the countries. This conference will be in the US next year.

In case we need it, this is another reason that we need to insure there is no President Trump.

[karynnj]

5. Next year will focus on recovering money stolen from countries by corrupt leaders

The Global Forum for Asset Recovery will bring together governments and law enforcement agencies to discuss returning assets to Nigeria, Ukraine, Sri Lanka and Tunisia.

The meeting will be held in the US next year, co-hosted with the UK, and supported by the UN and the World Bank.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36274302

The article also described actions promised this year by many countries, including for the UK:

It said the register would mean "corrupt individuals and countries will no longer be able to move, launder and hide illicit funds through London's property market, and will not benefit from our public funds".
It said foreign companies owned about 100,000 properties in England and Wales and that more than 44,000 of these were in London.

[blm]

10. Obama was smart choosing to join Senate Foreign Relations Comm with Kerry and Biden.

Great guiding minds to help shape your worldview.

[bemildred]

2. KnR nt

[NobodyHere]

6. So we're expecting the guy who parked his yacht in Rhode Island to avoid taxes

to go after tax avoidance?

[karynnj]

7. Go back to Free republic - that story, though oft repeated is not true

John and Teresa Kerry formed a company that purchased the yacht and they rent it out for weeks that they are not using it. It actually was on Kerry's Senate financial statement because they use it so infrequently themselves (and that was when she was healthy and he was a Senator.) that they made a profit. It is maintained out of Newport, Rhode Island.

Before they even took possession of the yacht, the right wing claimed they were avoiding MA taxes. Though the company, like other THK companies, was out of PA. It was completely legal to run it out of Newport. However, Kerry immediately said that he would pay the sales tax to MA AS IF THEY BOUGHT IN MA. He then paid the small recurring tax as if it stayed in Nantucket.

So, in reality, he paid taxes he did not even owe -- because he was concerned about the optics as a Senator. You might consider that neither his Democratic opponents or Bush even tried to make an issue about his finances -- other than some who thought it was bad that his wife was not just brilliant and beautiful but very wealthy.

[blm]

11. Thanks for repeating the RW propaganda - we just don't get enough of that here.

It's a manufactured 'scandal' from professional propagandists and if you don't wish to further their lies you should self-delet. If you do, then just be honest enough to admit you see no problem in spreading propaganda for the GOP lie machine.

[pampango]

8. If governments cooperate to go after tax havens, the New World Order folks on the right will go

ballistic.

National governments cooperating is 'one-world-government' to them. They prefer each government to stay disconnected from all the others. That makes things much easier for the rich to play one country off against another.

[karynnj]

9. I would bet that on this, it may not be just the right

I think the vast majority of the left would be in favor of this and that the difficulty was that it was not in any country's interest to go first and eliminate their shelters. In fact, that is pretty much what Kerry seemed to be saying here:
[divclass="excerpt"]
But here’s the most important thing that I think ought to come out of today, Mr. Prime Minister, and again, it takes courage to stand up, because in the beginning of this process there’ll be some outlier nations. They’ll say, “Wow, this is a great advantage. They’re going to tighten up their banking system. It’s an opportunity for us to proffer easier terms and we’ll be” – we have to say no safe harbor anywhere. We have to get the global community to come together and have no impunity to corruption.


I think that he is right when he goes on to say that if this happened, things would change quickly.

I think that the sense that things are rigged and the system unfair is more common each decade - and it is a problem.