Background
From the Cayman Islands and the Isle of Man to the Principality of Liechtenstein and the state of Delaware, tax havens offer lower tax rates, less stringent regulations and enforcement, and promises of strict secrecy to individuals and corporations alike. In recent years, government regulators, hoping to remedy economic crisis by diverting capital from hidden channels back into taxable view, have undertaken sustained and serious efforts to force tax havens into compliance.

In 2010, Ronen Palan(with Richard Murphy and Christian Chavagneux) published Tax Havens: How Glabalization Really Works (Cornell University Press, 2010). The book assesses the role and function of tax havens in the global financial system – their history, inner workings, impact, extent, and enforcement. While, individually, tax havens may appear insignificant, together they have a major impact on the global economy. Holding up to $13 trillion of personal wealth, the equivalent of the annual U.S. Gross National Product – and serving as the legal home of two million corporate entities and half of all international lending banks, tax havens also skew the distribution of globalization’s costs and benefits to the detriment of developing economies.

Ronen Palan’s work on tax havens challenges much of the conventional wisdom on the issue. With his co-authors, he reveals that rather than operating at the margins of the world economy, tax havens are integral to it. More than simple conduits for tax avoidance and evasion, tax havens actually belong to the broad world of finance, to the business of managing the monetary resources of individuals, organizations, and countries. They have become among the most powerful instruments of globalization, one of the principal causes of global financial instability, and one of the largest political issues of our times.

Speakers
Ronen Palan, Professor, City University London
Duncan Wigan, Assistant Professor, Copenhagen Business School (CBS)
Jesper Petersen, MP, Socialist People’s Party (SF)
Stine Krøijer, Senior Policy Advisor, IBIS
Jakob Vestergaard, Senior Researcher, DIIS

Programme
14.00-14.05 Introduction Jakob Vestergaard, Senior Researcher, DIIS

14.05-14.45 Tax Havens and Offshore Finance: New Regulatory
Challenges Ronen Palan, Professor, City University London

14.45-15.00 Coffee Break
15.00-15.15 Discussant
Duncan Wigan, Assistant Professor, CBS

15.15-15.35 Panel Discussion
Ronen Palan, Professor, City University London
Duncan Wigan, Assistant Professor, CBS
Jesper Petersen, MP, Socialist People’s Party (SF)
Stine Krøijer, Senior Policy Advisor, IBIS

15.35-16.00 Q & A with the Panel
Chair: Jakob Vestergaard, Senior Researcher, DIIS

Practical Information
The seminar will be held in English.

Participation is free of charge, but registration is required. Please use our online registration form no later than Friday, 2 November 2012 at 12.00 noon.

DIIS Global Economy Mondays Seminar

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