Secrecy jurisdictions is a term used alternatively for tax havens and an estimated US $21 to $32 trillion of private financial wealth is untaxed in that jurisdiction around the world. The citizens of both rich and poor countries get hurt with this practice as it encourages tax evasion and state looting through offshore secrecy. The Financial Secrecy Index in a bid to identify the most important providers of international financial secrecy has revealed that there’s a misconception about the traditional steps of tax havens. FSI revealed that efforts to crack down on tax havens and financial secrecy are futile because the people favoured by the illicit fund are the one setting the rules. The FSI 2020 reveals that the biggest reforms have been in automatic exchange of information and beneficial ownership registration, whereas reforms in country by country reporting have not been strong. FSI is a tool to be used to tackle offshore secrecy at root. It will directly confront offshore secrecy and the global infrastructure that births it.
