Both ENDS
Tax evasion costs 145 countries, representing over 98% of world GDP, more than US$3.1 trillion annually. This is concluded by the Tax Justice Network in a recently published report. With their campaign 'Tackle Tax Havens' the network wants to inform the public of the negative impact of tax havens on the global economy.
The world's forests are under threat. Remaining forests – havens of precious biodiversity and the lungs of the planet – are being cleared to make way for beef, soy, sugar and palm oil production, mining and other industrial activities, fuelled by increasing demand from Europe and other countries. But the good news is: you can help stop the destruction!
Press Release
Dutch export credit agency Atradius DSB provides ample opportunity for money laundering and tax avoidance.
A structural lack of control on the part of Dutch export credit agency Atradius Dutch State Business (DSB) gives leeway to its customers and their partners to launder money and dodge taxes. This is the main conclusion of the study ‘Cover for What?’ done by researchers of the Dutch NGO Both ENDS. Displaying this lack of control Atradius, which is working exclusively for the Dutch State, undermines policies designed by the very Dutch State to counteract money laundering and tax evasion. The study shows three transactions backed by Atradius in which multinationals choose a seat in tax havens and handle affairs from there, using non-transparent business structures. Atradius does nothing to counter these strategies. The lack of control displayed by Dutch ECA Atradius might very well apply to similar export credit agencies in other countries.
The Dutch government, through its export credit agency Atradius DSB (ADSB), provides export support to companies that undertake activities abroad. The state wants projects it insures to have no negative consequences for people and the environment and therefore sets requirements for corporate social responsibility (CSR). A consultation on CSR policy ran until the end of April, to which a coalition of thirteen social organisations from the Netherlands and abroad, including Both ENDS and Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth the Netherlands), responded.
Within the context of the upcoming G-20 summit in the United States, Both ENDS, SOMO, Tax Justice and Oxfam Novib wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Balkenende. On September 24-25 he will represent the Netherlands in meetings with nineteen world leaders and heads of international financial institutions about combating the global crisis.
