Excessive financial secrecy facilitates illicit financial flows, which constitute a major developmental challenge for low-income economies and cause significant tax revenue losses for governments around the world. In this paper we estimate the semi-elasticity of cross-border financial assets to...

GDP contracted by 9 1\2 percent in 2020-a much steeper decline than during the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC)-but it is now recovering with the easing of containment measures and economic policy support. Banks are closely connected to the corporate sector through high credit exposures and...

While financial secrecy has recently risen on the agenda of policy makers and scholars alike, much remains unknown about its development since the global financial crisis. To show how financial secrecy evolved over time on average, by category, and across countries, we combine the five Financial...

The U.S. Tax Program for Swiss banks is a very significant part of the recent history of the Swiss financial industry. It has accelerated the transformation of the Swiss banking industry from a system that relied on bank secrecy to a much more compliant one. It was also rather costly for the...

The U.S. Tax Program for Swiss Banks is a very significant part of the recent history of the Swiss financial industry. It has accelerated the transformation of the Swiss banking industry from a system that relied on bank secrecy to a much more compliant one. It was also rather costly for the...

Faced with the demands, challenges and risks of an ever evolving and complex digital economy, there remains a formidable position – and possibly more formidable one in the years to come, to be assumed by computer forensics – and particularly in respect of combatting aggressive tax planning...

Banking secrecy, one of the pillars of the functioning of financial systems, has undergone major changes lately, even in countries known for compliance. This shows a significant transformation of global economic-financial paradigms under increasingly strong pressure of the crisis. Automatic...

This project examines recent and ongoing misconduct in the financial sector and implications for corporate governance and accountability. The misconduct ranges from abusive mortgage trades and misreporting on derivatives losses to manipulation of commodity markets. Major corporations, such as...

Full paper published in Journal of Financial Crime, vol 8, no 2, 150-155 (November 2000)The obligation of a bank as a matter of contract with its customer to honor its duty of secrecy over the information it holds presents a barrier to an efficient, competitive and informed securities market....

While financial secrecy has recently risen on the agenda of policy makers and scholars alike, much remains unknown about its development since the global financial crisis. To show how financial secrecy evolved over time on average, by category, and across countries, we combine the five Financial...

"This volume takes an in-depth look at the economic issue of capital flight and outlines strategic methods to address the problem of international tax evasion and bank secrecy. In order to address these issues, the book explores the development prospects of tax evasion governance and identifies...

The Dimensions and Flaws of Tax Evasion -- A Finance Greatly Marked by Offshore -- The Limits of International Financial Statistics on Offshore Practices -- The Role of Bleaching Mechanisms -- Diversification of Countermeasures and Strengthening Them -- Worrying Business for Banks' Reputations...

This study analyses cross‐border capital flows in order to verify the existence and direction of the effect of the soft regulation promoted by international organizations against banking secrecy which characterized the so called tax and financial heavens. This effect is called in the...

The pressure on tax haven countries to engage in tax information exchange shows first effects on capital markets. Empirical research suggests that investors do react to information exchange and partially withdraw from previous secrecy jurisdictions that open up to information exchange. While...

The pressure on tax haven countries to engage in tax information exchange shows first effects on capital markets. Empirical research suggests that investors do react to information exchange and partially withdraw from previous secrecy jurisdictions that open up to information exchange. While...

Both academic research and public policy debate around tax havens and offshore finance typically suffer from a lack of definitional consistency. Unsurprisingly then, there is little agreement about which jurisdictions ought to be considered as tax havens — or which policy measures would result...

One of the characteristics of the banking system in Israel is – or at least used to be - the relatively high level of bank secrecy. Bank secrecy is one of the key obligations imposed on the bank vis-à-vis its customer. It embodies not only the customer's interest but also the interest of...

Against the backdrop of corruption and money laundering this paper explores the extent to which the anti money laundering framework has the potential to prevent corruption. The paper starts with an examination of the anti-corruption conventions (in particular, the United Nations Convention...

Tax whistle-blowers provide valuable leads and often offer unique insights to compliance challenged taxpayers. The IRS must act promptly when receiving specific and credible information regarding tax compliance issues when that information can be corroborated through examination activity. In...

Prof. Stephen Cohen, whose academic specialty is taxation, also has an interest in international human rights and served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights in the Carter Administration. In this comment, Prof. Cohen asks whether states like Switzerland, which provide bank...

This study analyses the cross border capital flows in order to verify existence and direction of the so called stigma effect: Is the soft regulation against banking secrecy promoted by the international organization effective? We test if the FAFT listing-delisting events are effective sticks and...

Weiss steht im Kontrast zu Schwarz. So weist eine Logik des weissen Geldes auf eine Abkehr vom schwarzen Geld hin. Der Kontrast von Weiss und Schwarz stellt dar, wie radikal der Wandel im Schweizer Bankensektor der letzten Jahre ist, und symbolisiert, dass auf dem Schweizer Bankenplatz nur noch...

Véritable guide sur la prévention du blanchiment et du financement du terrorisme (LAB/CFT), cet ouvrage inédit et très complet réconcilie les obligations de confidentialité aux mesures de transparence imposées au monde bancaire et financier

The duty to keep customer information confidential affects banks on a daily basis. Bank secrecy regimes around the world differ and multi-national banks can find themselves in conflicted positions with a duty to protect information in one jurisdiction and a duty to disclose it in another. This...

The paper contains a theoretical discussion of the role of secrecy in the implementation of monetary policy. It documents the Federal Reserve's defense of secrecy as argued in a recent Freedom of Information Act suit. The Federal Reserve's arguments are evaluated on the basis of economic theory....

Like the heavy handed legislative response to 9/11 contained in the US Patriot Act, Australia has passed new legislation to attempt to suppress terrorist financing. The legislation imposes disclosure obligations on banks to detect and to disclose terrorism financing to law enforcement agencies....

Law enforcement has a vested interest in catching alleged money launderers. Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) filed by financial institutions are a useful tool in this endeavor and can potentially direct law enforcement to criminal enterprises. But SARs are just that — reports of suspicious...

"Il y a un siècle, le secret bancaire suisse était remis en cause pour la première fois sur ta scène internationale. Ce livre étudie comment les dirigeants helvétiques sont parvenus à faire face aux pressions internationales, qui apparaissent après le premier conflit mondial, pour...