The Tribune

The global focus on taxation, anti-money laundering and demands for greater transparency will be discussed at this week’s International Business & Finance Summit (IBFS).

The ‘Transparency and Related Initiatives’ session will centre on achieving the right balance between national development and global obligations, examiningwhat ‘Staying Ahead of the Game’ means for the Bahamas and other developing countries in the current tax co-operation environment.

The session will also look at the main strands of transparency, and the related agendas of both the G-20 and OECD, with a focus also on the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) revised anti-money laundering regulations.The move to define tax crimes as a predicate money laundering offence will be a key issue.

The panellists are Michael Lennard, head of the United Nations’ (UN) International Tax Cooperation and Trade, Financing for Development Office (FfDO; and George Hodgson, deputy chief executive, STEP Worldwide. The session will be moderated by Aliya Allen, the Bahamas Financial Services Board’s (BFSB) chief executive and executive director.

Ms Allen said: “The current presidencies of the G-8 and G-20 have identified ‘transparency’ as a key programme objective, the former intertwining this with ‘tax’ and ‘trade’, while the G-20 has confirmed its focus on growth through trust and transparency.

“The IBFS Planning Committee considered it essential that IBFS 2013’s agenda include a focus on these critical issues that have such tremendous impact on our sector and, indeed, the economy at large.”

Mr Lennard’s work in FfDO has a particular focus on ensuring the fairness and workability of international tax norms, including achieving greater developing country input into this area.

His office also encourages cooperation to improve tax systems and administrations as a spur to sustained development.

Mr Lennard worked previously as a tax treaty advisor in the OECD Tax Treaty Secretariat in Paris, and prior to that worked on tax treaty and other international tax matters at the Australian Tax Office.

He led and participated on Australian bilateral and multilateral tax negotiating teams, and worked in the Australian Government’s Office of International Law, dealing with taxation, trade, environmental, dispute settlement and jurisdictional issues.

Prior to joining STEP, Mr Hodgson held a senior policy position at the Association of British Insurers, the main insurance industry trade body in the UK.

He has also served on the staff of the Treasury Committee of the UK House of Commons. Prior to moving to public policy work, Mr Hodgson had a 20-year career in investment banking.

Now in its 10th year, IBFS covers a wide range of issues that must be addressed by industry stakeholders if the jurisdiction is to remain competitive. The theme for the three-day event in Bimini is ‘The Bahamas Advantage: Staying Ahead of the Game’.