ABSTRACT
In April 2009, leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies met in an attempt to revise the rules of global finance and reform the world’s financial institutions. One of the key agenda items at the G20 concerned one basic corporate contribution to society: the payment of taxes. The emphasis on automatic cross-border exchange is imperative if the G20 are serious about tax exchange and ensures a level playing field in respect to transparency. If the G20 had the political will, there are a variety of ways to economically coerce tax havens into exchanging tax information, including restrictions on providing financial services. Interest in French approaches to capitalism and economic management has grown in some circles as a result of the Western financial crisis. Pointing to the deregulation of the financial services sector, many commentators regard the crisis as emanating from an Anglo-Saxon model of capitalism, where the government is meant to enable market forces, rather than curb them.
