France's first tax haven-free town

Très bonnes nouvelles!

Today's edition of Ouest-France is reporting that the town of La Chapelle-sur-Erdre, north of Nantes in Brittany, has become the first town in France to declare its tax haven-free status. The town is now requiring its bankers and financial services providers to demonstrate their commitment to transparency through, amongst others things, publishing their financial statements on a country-by-country basis.

As we have previously reported, many French regions have already declared themselves tax haven-free, and as more towns and cities follow suite we can expect increasing pressure on the G20 presidency, this year held by France's Nicolas Sarkozy, to take effective action against tax havens. Talking of which, if you haven't already done so, now is the time to sign up to the global petition to G20 leaders to take effective action: do it here.