{"id":2034,"date":"2016-04-10T07:22:08","date_gmt":"2016-04-10T11:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/unstudies\/?p=2034"},"modified":"2016-04-10T07:22:08","modified_gmt":"2016-04-10T11:22:08","slug":"how-the-panama-papers-undercut-the-sdgs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/unstudies\/2016\/04\/10\/how-the-panama-papers-undercut-the-sdgs\/","title":{"rendered":"How The Panama Papers Undercut the SDGs"},"content":{"rendered":"

NOTE:\u00a0 <\/strong>This guest post was written by\u00a0Angelo Piro<\/a>, one of the School of Diplomacy\u2019s UN Youth Representatives. Angelo is a student majoring in Diplomacy and International Relations and Economics at Seton Hall University. Angelo\u2019s focus has been on the role of international organizations in development and good governance. He is fluent in English and Spanish, and has a working knowledge of Russian. Angelo has studied at Dubrovnik International University in Dubrovnik, Croatia, and has interned with the Permanent Mission of Honduras to the United Nations and the Office of US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). He writes for the\u00a0Diplomatic Envoy<\/a>, and is a member of the Seton Hall United Nations Association.<\/p>\n

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One month ago, most people around the world would not have heard about the law firm Mossack Fonesca.\u00a0 Yet, now with over eleven million documents released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists<\/a>, this firm may be one of the most infamous names in finance since Bernie Madoff or Fannie Mae.\u00a0 On April 3, the ICIJ released a massive amount of documents from Mossack Fonesca\u2019s office that show that they were complicit in creating thousands of shell companies and dummy accounts that allowed individuals, companies, and groups to evade taxes, skirt sanctions and hide their money.\u00a0 While this practice is nothing new, the scale of these activities and the people to which they are tied are surprising.\u00a0 Heads of state, like Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine and Vladimir Putin of Russia, have been implicated, as well as companies from over 21 other jurisdictions.\u00a0 Even people like Jackie Chan and Lionel Messi have been listed as clients.<\/p>\n

While the scandal that surrounds this document dump grows, governments and advocates need to note that the information contained in these documents poses a serious threat to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals<\/a>.\u00a0 The issues brought to light by the ICIJ need to be addressed in order to make the SDGs work around the globe in both developed and developing countries alike.<\/p>\n

One of the main underpinnings of the Sustainable Development Goals has been the outcome document of the Third Conference for Financing for Development<\/a>, more commonly referred to as FFD.\u00a0 One of the main points of FFD is to build self-sustaining financing and tax structures that allow all countries, developed and developing, to allow for the implementation of sustainable development.\u00a0 This included the creation of the Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters<\/a>, among other structures.\u00a0 This framework has had to grapple with the idea of tax havens and evasion as a massive problem.\u00a0 Now, they have a clear view of how just one firm has completely undercut their attempts to make a responsible tax structure.<\/p>\n

The papers also reveal challenges to the implementation of the Goals themselves.\u00a0 Goal 16 addresses Peace and Justice, and stresses the targeting of those committing violence and crime, as well as making institutions accountable and transparent.\u00a0 Yet, with the information revealed in the ICIJ\u2019s documents, the world clearly has a ways to go to tackle this.\u00a0 For one, the information reveals the failings of the current sanctions regimes in place against many individuals and governments around the world.\u00a0 Sanctions have been meant to punish aggression and force people to abandon violence, as well as arms trade and smuggling.\u00a0 But, among the clients of Mossack Fonesca are multiple middlemen of the Syrian regime and North Korea, as well as John Brendenkamp, an African businessman who is thought to provide violent groups in countries like Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of the Congo with supplies and equipment.<\/p>\n

The leak also reveals the failings of creating effectively accountable institutions under Goal 16.\u00a0 Revealed in the documents are the names of many high profile politicians.\u00a0 This includes many British lawmakers and high profile officials from China\u2019s Communist Party.\u00a0 One of the most well-known examples, mentioned above, is Petro Poroshenko, who, after his election, told the public he would sell his interests in his various business, but seemed to merely transfer control to a number of shell companies created by Mossack Ponesca.\u00a0 The most shocking example of the lack of accountable institutions revealed in the documents seems to be the case of Iceland\u2019s Prime Minister, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson.\u00a0 Gunnlaugsson was elected after the wave of public anger that followed the collapse of many banks in Iceland.\u00a0 What was not revealed was that the Prime Minister held large scale investments in bonds of Icelandic banks.\u00a0 This piece of information would have likely colored the public trust given to Gunnlaugsson, as can be seen with ongoing protests against his government. He resigned in the wake of massive protests following the Panama Papers revelations.<\/p>\n

As these documents are slowly digested and examined, the problems presented by the Panama Papers need to be addressed.\u00a0 As the world attempts to build on the Sustainable Development Goals and achieve them, the challenge of tax evasion needs to be addressed, or an estimated eight percent of the world economy will be left out of the potential sources for their achievement.\u00a0 The Panama Papers will likely galvanize public outrage and action, but this needs to be turned into effective structures and not merely righteous retribution<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NOTE:\u00a0 This guest post was written by\u00a0Angelo Piro, one of the School of Diplomacy\u2019s UN Youth Representatives. Angelo is a student majoring in Diplomacy and…<\/p>\n

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