Dark offshore money, stashed in tax havens and countries with favorable financial secrecy laws, makes it easier to support candidates surreptitiously and manipulate public opinion. Clamping down on these jurisdictions would strengthen tax collection in democracies and reduce the resources available to authoritarian regimes.
WASHINGTON, DC/CAMBRIDGE – Democracies around the world face two major threats: a crisis of legitimacy, and increasingly aggressive authoritarian regimes. What links both and makes them much more dangerous is the pernicious effect of dark-money transfers, particularly those that pass through offshore tax havens and jurisdictions with excessive financial secrecy. Restricting these tax havens and requiring more transparency on cross-border financial flows should become a major policy priority for all G7 countries in 2024.
WASHINGTON, DC/CAMBRIDGE – Democracies around the world face two major threats: a crisis of legitimacy, and increasingly aggressive authoritarian regimes. What links both and makes them much more dangerous is the pernicious effect of dark-money transfers, particularly those that pass through offshore tax havens and jurisdictions with excessive financial secrecy. Restricting these tax havens and requiring more transparency on cross-border financial flows should become a major policy priority for all G7 countries in 2024.