FIU, Alm.del - 2013-14 - Bilag 116: Møde med Raymond Baker mandag den 12. maj 2014

Raymond Baker, der er leder af Global Financial Integrity (GFI) i Washington, kommer til København man-dag den 12. maj i forbindelse med lanceringen af rapporten om illegale kapitaloverførsler i Afrika.Der er arrangeret et frokostmøde med Raymond Bakermandag den 12. maj kl. 12.00-13.30.Mødet findersted i vær. 2-011. Af hensyn til logistikken bedes I tilmelde jersenest onsdag den 7. majtil undertegnedepå[email protected].Der var planlagt et møde med Raymond Baker under studierejsen til Afrika i marts i år, men mødet måtteaflyses. Den mødenotits der var udarbejdet til brug for dette møde og Raymond Bakers CV er vedhæftet.Udenrigsudvalget og Skatteudvalget er inviteret til at deltage i mødet.

MØDENOTITSTax and Illicit Financial Flows in GhanaPurposeTo provide an overview of the partnership between Denmark, Government of Ghana and the Global Finan-cial Integrity (GFI).ParticipantsRaymond Baker, President of Global Financial Integrity, Washington, D.C.Practical informationThe meeting will take place Tuesday March 4 2014 at 17:00-18:30 at Golden Tulip Accra.Topics for discussionThe extent and nature of trade misinvoicing in Ghana.The political commitment needed to address illicit flows. How does GFI aim to get its policy advi-sory programme in Ghana off-the-ground?Transparency and governance.BackgroundIllicit outflows of capital due to trade misinvoicing from developing countries is one of the most pressingchallenges for policymakers and development economists. The global figure for illicit financial flows fromdeveloping countries is approximately $586 billion per year, and trade misinvoicing makes up close to 80percent of this or $469 billion. It is thought that this capital flight, facilitated by a global network of secrecyjurisdictions and complex, opaque corporate and account structures, robs governments and societies ofneeded revenue for domestic investment in the private sector, infrastructure development, and the provi-sion of vital social services such as health and education. This translates into lost opportunities, lost jobs,and lost potential. Ghana is one of such countries on the African continent which show evidence of thisdamaging phenomenon. Support to the Ghanaian authorities in this area could help Ghana championtransparency, accountability and greater financial independence.Global Financial Integrity, in partnership with the Government of Denmark and the Ghanaian Ministry ofFinance and the Central Bank have agreed to undertake an in-depth study in 2014 of unrecorded financialflows stemming from international trade mispricing. The study is being financed by the Government ofDenmark in alignment with its action on tax, development and financial transparency.The support to Ghana is in two parts: the first, an analysis of unrecorded financial flows from Ghana; andthe second, a policy advisory programme. For the economic analysis part of the project, the objective willbe to analyse the magnitude and sources of unrecorded capital flows stemming from misinvoicing of tradein Ghana, providing a basis for a future policy partnership. The objective of the programme of Policy Advi-sory Services is to work with officials of the Government of Ghana in writing new policies or revising exist-ing ones to curtail unrecorded capital flows stemming from misinvoicing of trade in the country, and layingthe groundwork for more effective and increased domestic resource mobilization in the future. This effortbuilds on the in-depth economic study of the sources and magnitudes of unrecorded flows due to trademisinvoicing that GFI will prepare for the Government of Ghana.

Raymond Baker is the President of Global Financial Integrity and the author of Capitalism’s Achil-les Heel: Dirty Money and How to Renew the Free-Market System. He has for many years been aninternationally respected authority on corruption, money laundering, growth, and foreign policy is-sues, particularly as they concern developing and transitional economies and impact upon westerneconomic and foreign interests.Mr. Baker is a member of the High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa, chaired byformer President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki. He also serves on the World Economic Forum'sCouncil on Illicit Trade. From the late 1990's through the first decade of the twenty-first century, heserved as a Guest Fellow at the Brookings Institution, researching and writing on the linkages be-tween corruption, money laundering, and poverty.In 1996 he received a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for a projectentitled, “Flight Capital, Poverty and Free-Market Economics.” He travelled to 23 countries to inter-view 335 central bankers, commercial bankers, government officials, economists, lawyers, tax col-lectors, security officers, and sociologists on the relationships between bribery, commercial taxevasion, money laundering, and economic growth. From 1985 to 1996 Mr. Baker provided confi-dential economic advisory services at the presidential level for developing country governments.Activities focused principally on issues surrounding anti-corruption strategies, international terms oftrade, and developing country debt. Research was conducted with 550 business owners and man-agers in eleven countries, concerning import and export mispricing and movement of tax-evadingcapital.From 1976 to 1985 Mr. Baker conducted extensive trading activities throughout Latin America andin ten Asian countries including the People’s Republic of China. An affiliated company in Londonhandled transactions in Europe. From 1961 to 1976 he lived in Nigeria and established and man-aged an investment company which set up and acquired manufacturing and financing ventures, thesubject of two Harvard Business School case studies. Educated at Harvard Business School andGeorgia Institute of Technology, Mr. Baker is the author of “The Biggest Loophole in the Free-Market System,” “Illegal Flight Capital; Dangers for Global Stability,” “How Dirty Money Binds thePoor,” and other works published in the United States and Europe.