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10 years 11 months ago. . In March of this year, the former director of intelligence for the Brazilian mining company Vale lodged a complaint with public authorities regarding illegal spying activities allegedly carried out by the company in collaboration with the Brazilian intelligence agency. Read more ...
10 years 11 months ago. Corporate accountability. On May 24, the Chilean government fined Barrick Gold $16 million for violations of its environmental permit for the Pascua Lama project. The following day, local communities released a public statement denouncing the fine. In an interview with Radio Canada International, the Halifax Initiative's Karyn Keenan discusses local reactions. Read more ...
10 years 12 months ago. Corporate accountability. British Prime Minister Cameron has announced that standards for multilateral information exchange, increasing transparency of the ownership of trusts and companies, and reform of global tax rules will be key items on the agenda of the G-8 meeting this June. These are policy positions that NGOs have promoted for many years. We have written to Prime Minister Harper to urge that Canada take a progressive position on these issues and help move them forward.
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11 years 3 weeks ago. . In his April 6 article in the Ottawa Citizen, “Enough with the tax haven hysteria,” Bernard Shinder argued that recent media reports of the harmful role of tax havens are essentially much ado about nothing. A Halifax Initiative Op Ed on April 12 responded. Read more ...
11 years 2 months ago. Corporate accountability, ECA Reform, Environment, Human rights, IFI, IFI accountability, Transparency and disclosure. Oyu Tolgoi is an enormous copper and gold deposit in Mongolia. The project is jointly owned by Canadian company Turquoise Hill Resources and a state owned enterprise. According to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), estimated project cost is $12 billion. Project proponents seek financing from Export Development Canada, the IFC, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, among others. In this document, CSOs argue that the project does not comply with the IFC Performance Standards and provide a series of recommendations. Read more ...
11 years 2 months ago. Tax Justice. In early February, Peter Gillespie of the Halifax Initiative testified before Canada's Parliamentary Finance Committee on the role of tax havens in facilitating massive financial losses to developing countries. Read more ...
11 years 3 months ago. Corporate accountability. This article by Halifax Initiative staff argues that since the 1960s, transnational corporations (TNCs) have exploited the faultlines of the international tax system to transfer billions of dollars from Southern countries to the North. Northern governments have protected this system, but are now being challenged by citizens' groups worldwide to put an end to these abuses. Published in Third World Resurgence magazine, December 2012.
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11 years 4 months ago. Tax Justice. In this Op Ed, Peter Gillespie of Halifax Initiative notes how multi-national companies have employed artificial accounting methods to avoid paying taxes in the places where they do business. This problem is affecting developed and developing countries alike. Read more ...