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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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G20 Will Push for End to Tax Havens

Brown enlists Obama to help crack down on offshore facilities

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(Newser) – Ahead of the G20 financial summit in London this April, Gordon Brown is pushing ahead with a major diplomatic effort to crack down on international tax havens that cost governments $150 billion a year. The British PM has held talks with fellow world leaders, including Barack Obama, reports the Guardian. While Obama has taken an interest in the Cayman Islands, Brown is pressing Switzerland to close its many loopholes.

Brown's plan has three parts: a clampdown on individuals who evade taxes with offshore accounts; punishment for corporations that use tax havens; and a tightening of regulation of markets, where billions are transferred ever day with no reporting. At a press conference yesterday, the PM said he was pushing for a unified regulatory system on tax and banking that would apply to all countries in the G20.

Gordon Brown gestures during his monthly news conference at 10 Downing Street in London, Wednesday Feb. 18, 2009. Brown, who hosts the G20 in April, is pushing for an end to tax havens.
Gordon Brown gestures during his monthly news conference at 10 Downing Street in London, Wednesday Feb. 18, 2009. Brown, who hosts the G20 in April, is pushing for an end to tax havens.   (AP Photo/Kieran Doherty, pool)
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, left, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, right, look on during a business summit at the Institute of Directors in London, Monday, Feb. 2, 2009. Wen's visit to Britain is the last stop on a regional tour that also included Spain, Germany, the World Economic Forum...
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, left, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, right, look on during a business summit at the Institute of Directors in London, Monday, Feb. 2, 2009. Wen's visit to Britain...   (AP Photo/Frantzesco Kangaris, Pool)
President Barack Obama waves as he arrives to speak at Dobson High School in Mesa, Ariz., Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009, about the housing foreclosure problem.
President Barack Obama waves as he arrives to speak at Dobson High School in Mesa, Ariz., Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009, about the housing foreclosure problem.   (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
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There's a building in the Cayman Islands that houses supposedly 12,000 US-based corporations. That's either the biggest building in the world or the biggest tax scam in the world, and we know which one it is. - Barack Obama

We want the whole of the world to take action. That will mean action against regulatory and tax havens in parts of the world which have escaped the regulatory attention they need. - Gordon Brown, British prime minister

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