Monitoring Desk
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has made an impassioned plea to the international community to take decisive action and work to prevent white collar criminals from “bleeding” developing countries dry.
In a video address to the United Nations International Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity (FACTI), PM Imran said countries that such criminals view as “tax havens” must return wealth looted from developed countries, according to English newspaper, The News on Thursday.
“We welcome the interim report of the FACTI panel. The figures […] mentioned in the report are staggering,” said the premier.
Prime Minister @ImranKhanPTI's Statement at High Level Side Event on Multi-dimensional Poverty Peer Network (MPPN) at the #UNGA.
"Poverty at a Crossroad: Using Leadership and the Multidimensional Poverty Index to Build Back Better"#PMIKatUNGA #UN75 pic.twitter.com/WsPDKXzdxi
— Prime Minister's Office, Pakistan (@PakPMO) September 24, 2020
He said that $1tn is taken out each year “by these white collar criminals”.
“$20-40 billion is in the form of bribes received by these corrupt white collar criminals,” PM Imran added.
Listing other findings, he noted that $7 trillion in stolen assets is parked in these safe tax haven destinations and $500-600bn is lost each year in tax avoidance by multinational companies.
“This bleeding of the poor and developing countries must stop,” the premier urged.
He called upon the international community to “adopt decisive actions”, before proceeding to list 9 recommendations:
1. The stolen assets of developing countries including proceeds of corruption, bribery and other crimes must be returned immediately.
2. The authorities in haven destinations must impose criminal and financial penalties on their financial institutions which receive and utilise such money and assets.
3. The enablers of corruption and bribery, such as accountants and lawyers and other intermediaries must be closely regulated, monitored and held accountable.
4. The beneficial ownership of foreign companies must be revealed immediately upon inquiry by the interested and affected governments.
5. Multinational corporations must not be allowed to resort to profit shifting to low tax jurisdictions for avoiding taxation. A global minimum corporate tax could prevent this practice.
6. Revenues from digital transactions should be taxed where the revenues are generated, not elsewhere.
7. Unequal investment treaties should be discarded or revised and a fair system for adjudication of investment disputes set up.
8. All official and non-official bodies set up to control and monitor illicit financial flaws must include all the interested countries.
9. The UN should set up a mechanism to coordinate and supervise the work of the various official and non-official bodies dealing with illicit financial flaws to ensure coherence, consistency and equity in their work.
The premier said that in the backdrop of the recession triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an even greater need for developing countries “to protect and preserve their precious resources”.
“Unless these steps are taken, the difference between the rich and poor countries will keep growing. The developing countries will get impoverished and what we see of the current migration crisis will be dwarfed by what will happen in the future,” PM Imran warned.
