Remember the Gupta scandal in South Africa? The long awaited first volume of Judge Raymond
Zondo’s report on state capture is out. It documents manipulation through such institutions as South African Airways and the South African Revenue Service and recommends individual for prosecution although there are questions about the capacity of an underfunded National Prosecuting Authority to act.
Want additional context? A new
research paper delves into the mechanisms and impacts of state capture with a focus on South Africa and Brazil.
The United States isn’t yet in the category of a captured state, but intriguing to read how Wyoming has became one of the
world’s top tax havens, profiting the likes of a Moscow oligarch, Argentinian matriarch, and a Dominican Polo player.
The Biden Administration is keen to tackle such weaknesses, although failure to move forward with the Build Back Better bill that included provisions for a new
Corporate Profits Minimum Tax raises questions about the ability to deliver on the OECD global tax deal agreed last year. In hopes it will move, the OECD released
Pillar Two Model Rules for domestic implementation of the 15% global minimum.
The U.S. has at least received
praise for the anti-corruption commitments announced at the Summit for Democracy. A sign of sustained political will on that front with news that the U.S. will host the
10th Conference of the States Parties (COSP) to the UN Convention against Corruption.
Meantime, a leak of around 3.5 million documents obtained by the Platform for the Protection of Whistleblowers in Africa and Mediapart points to possible embezzlement of $530 million in the DRC in tax advances from the country’s state-owned mining company Gécamines. Resource Matters and other collaborators
partially traced the origins and the final destination of the money, including $8 million withdrawn in cash in Kinshasa by one individual – how many suitcases does that require to carry?!
