Brown takes action on tax havens at G20 as $1tn deal forged
The G20 will take action on tax havens - as a part of the measures to encourage transparency in finance - as a £1 trillion deal to boost the economy was launched.
In measures announced by Gordon Brown, a total $1.1 trillion deal was forged with funding for the International Monetary Fund (IMF), along with measures covering areas of a uniform way to clean up toxic assets and encourage growth.
The deal will also put a tighter noose on tax havens - as nations try to claw back lost revenue as spending demands from the recession grow.
The prime minister outlined a series of countries that have signed up to agreements on sharing tax information - including Macao, Andorra, and Lichtenstein - and those not signing bilateral agreements or agreements of principle would be listed by the OECD.
"This is the start of the end [of tax havens]," he said.
"Country after country is signing up. We have to be able to exchange information on tax."
He added the change will mean people will see it is not safe to keep money in a country regarded as a tax haven.
The G20 also brought out further control on parts of the finance system such as hedge funds, along with more financial regulation.
French president Nicolas Sarkozy said: "There will be more security and control regards these funds, they will be under greater regulation."
He also pledged greater controls on pay for finance workers and those taking excessive risks.
The underlying six pledges from the G20 covered areas of restoring confidence, repairing financial systems and financial regulation, promoting trade and building a green recovery.
The full communiqué is available here
Stephen Timms, financial secretary to the Treasury, said: "The era of banking secrecy is over.
"We must step up tax information exchange agreements. There is a firm agreement to maintain pressure [on countries that do not submit to the new tax-haven regulations].
"Ultimately we are looking for a tangible outcome."
However, George Bull, head of tax at chartered accountants Baker Tilly, warned changes needed to occur nationally as well as internationally.
"Tax havens survive for many reasons, but one is lazy legislation in developing tax law.
"We need fairer and more competitive tax laws to stop the flight of capital."
He added more progress had been made on dealing with tax havens in the last weeks than the last decade.
Christian Aid head of policy Charles Abugre said: "We welcome the seriousness with which the G20 has looked at the tax issue. But we are very disappointed by its choice of a system in which countries will exchange tax information on request only.
"This puts the burden on poor countries to prove they need the information and removes the pressure on responding countries to rapidly reply.
"To work, countries need the capacity to apply sanctions if their request for information is denied - capacity that poor countries do not have."
He added: "Rich and poor countries alike urgently need a truly multilateral agreement for the automatic sharing of tax information, with sanctions against those who do not comply."
"We sincerely hope the Summit is just the very beginning of a process of major reform, which world leaders will now pursue with courage and energy. We will be watching carefully to see what they do next about the theft of $160 billion in tax revenue every year from developing economies."
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