Finance committee  You need treaties because you don't want double taxation, but they're not going to solve the tax-haven problem.

Finance committee  I don't think you can look to treaties as a primary tool in the fight against tax evasion, because the function of a tax treaty is basically to relieve taxation. In the United States it's a constitutional matter that you can't use a treaty to increase taxation. To look to a treat

Finance committee  I did not hear the English translation, but that's okay; I understand French.

Finance committee  Very well. I'm very happy to respond to any questions the committee may have. Thank you.

Finance committee  I can. Thank you very much.

Finance committee  First of all, I think the principal problem that I am aware of in the United States with entities and their ownership is probably Delaware, which allows for companies to be owned with bearer shares. There has been a lot of complaint about that. One of the problems I have in add

Finance committee  Oh, of course. I didn't say I don't agree with TIEAs. My remarks were directed at the fact that I think they have limited impact because of the way they're generally implemented. They also have.... Sorry?

Finance committee  Yes, of course. Again, I don't know, even in my own country, what the experience has been, but my suspicion is that the number of requests that go out under any given TIEA in a timeframe, within a year, say, is pretty limited. I think TIEAs are more important symbolically than t

Finance committee  Oh, yes, of course.

Finance committee  I think something like that ought to be replicated among developed countries, but perhaps not with always the same countries in the group. My comments reflect a certain feeling that the way in which the OECD has been going, which has been to broaden its membership, makes it less

Finance committee  Well, you've said a lot. Let me start out by saying that I have always admired, insofar as I understand it, the Canadian system. It does seem to be a lot better from a policy standpoint, and I've participated in various policy discussions in Canada about the Canadian system. Our

Finance committee  That's the hardest question of all. I think we all know what the clear havens are. They range from the Cook Islands in the Pacific, which is not used much by our people, down to the Caribbean, where there are multiple islands. There are lots of zero- and very-low-tax places in

Finance committee  I think it's basically separate from transfer pricing. We do not have a GAAR. I'm quite familiar with both the Canadian GAAR, the New Zealand GAAR, and the Australian GAAR. There are problems with GAARs, because although they sound wonderful in general, you still need standards f

Finance committee  I actually think that what I said earlier, about forming some kind of a group of similarly-minded developed countries, is the most positive thing you can do. Some countries have blacklists, some countries have white lists. But the bottom line, when I speak of something simple,

Finance committee  I'm not sure I'm qualified to answer that. I'm not an economist, and these macro effects are just things I read about with interest. The only thing that I would comment on, that your question prompts me to observe, and that is I think quite interesting and worth thinking about,