“Offshore tax evasion remains a serious problem for countries and jurisdictions worldwide, with vast amounts of funds deposited abroad and sheltered from taxation when taxpayers fail to comply with obligations in their home countries. Responding to a mandate from G20 leaders to reinforce action against tax avoidance and evasion and inject greater trust and fairness into… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: February 2014
New GAO Report – College Debit Cards
COLLEGE DEBIT CARDS: Actions Needed to Address ATM Access, Student Choice, and Transparency, GAO-14-91: Published: Feb 13, 2014. Publicly Released: Feb 13, 2014: “At least 852 schools, or 11 percent of U.S. colleges and universities, had agreements to provide debit or prepaid card services to their students as of July 2013, and most offered students the ability to receive… Continue Reading
Intelligence Community: Additional Actions Needed to Improve Reporting, Planning for Use of Contract Personnel
CIVILIAN INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY: Additional Actions Needed to Improve Reporting on and Planning for the Use of Contract Personnel, GAO-14-204: Published: Jan 29, 2014. Publicly Released: Feb 13, 2014. “Collectively, CIA, ODNI, and the departments responsible for developing policies to address risks related to contractors for the other six civilian IC elements have made limited progress in developing… Continue Reading
FHFA Oversight of Enterprise Handling of Aged Repurchase Demands
Audit Report – AUD–2014–009. February 12, 2014, FHFA Oversight of Enterprise Handling of Aged Repurchase Demands “Why OIG Did This Report: “Various entities such as banks often sell mortgage loans to two Government Sponsored Enterprises – the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac); taxpayers invested heavily… Continue Reading
Reporters Without Borders Releases Press Freedom Index
“Reporters Without Borders today released its 2014 World Press Freedom Index, spotlighting major declines in media freedom in such varied countries as the United States, Central African Republic, and Guatemala while noting marked improvements in Ecuador, Bolivia, and South Africa. The same trio of Finland, Netherlands, and Norway heads the index again, while Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea… Continue Reading
OECD Forecasts During and After the Financial Crisis
OECD Forecasts During and After the Financial Crisis – A Post Mortem. February 11, 2014. “Main Findings: • GDP growth was overestimated on average across 2007-12, reflecting not only errors at the height of the financial crisis but also errors in the subsequent recovery. • Forecast errors were larger in countries that are more open… Continue Reading
Corporate Criminal Liability: An Overview of Federal Law
Corporate Criminal Liability: An Overview of Federal Law, Charles Doyle, Senior Specialist in American Public Law, October 30, 2013. “A corporation is criminally liable for the federal crimes its employees or agents commit in its interest. Corporate officers, employees, and agents are individually liable for the crimes they commit, for the crimes they conspire to commit, for the… Continue Reading
International Debt Statistics 2014
“International Debt Statistics (IDS) 2014 is a continuation of the World Bank’s publications Global Development Finance, Volume II (1997 through 2009) and the earlier World Debt Tables (1973 through 1996). IDS 2014 provides statistical tables showing the external debt of 128 developing countries that report public and publicly guaranteed external debt to the World Bank’s… Continue Reading
ICE Success in Obtaining Removal Orders Drops to 50%
“Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has had diminishing success in convincing Immigration Judges to issue removal orders. Such orders are now granted only about 50 percent of the time, the lowest level since systematic tracking began more than 20 years ago. For years, the rate at which removal orders were granted in response to DHS… Continue Reading
Global Pensions Asset Study – 2014
Towers Watson – “This is a study of the 13 largest pension markets in the world and accounts for more than 85% of global pension assets. The countries included are Australia, Canada, Brazil, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, South Africa, Switzerland, the UK and the US. The study also analyses seven countries in… Continue Reading
2013 Giving To Higher Education: The Big Gift Revival
“The nonprofit world has been waiting to see tangible signs of true recovery, and 2013 clearly demonstrated that for the leading philanthropists it is time to give back and to give back in a significant way. Across the board, the mega-gifts that came to define campaigns in the early years of this century have now… Continue Reading
EIA – Short Term Energy Outlook
“Temperatures east of the Rocky Mountains have been significantly colder this winter (October – January) compared with the same period both last winter and the previous 10-year average, putting upward pressure on consumption and prices of fuels used for space heating. U.S. average heating degree days were 12% higher than last winter (indicating colder weather)… Continue Reading
