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This paper aims to examine tax leakages in secrecy financial centres.

This qualitative study relies on primary data from relevant statutes and secondary data from the public domain and in particular academic sources. The study makes concurrent use of the case study approach.

The study reinforces existing suggestions that tax evasion is significantly widespread from advanced to emerging economies. It also suggests serious enforcement difficulties because of light-touch surveillance among competing tax havens and financial professionals. Further, while relevant laws are in place to deal with illicit activities, enhanced transparency is needed to quell the problem and, in this instance, public access to beneficial owner data such as exemplified by UK’s public registry approach. The US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act is proving to be effective, and similar expectations are raised for the equivalent the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development initiative from 2017 onwards.

The paper is constrained with the general limitations associated with qualitative studies. These are, however, mitigated by triangulations of perspectives and so on.

The findings have implications for policymakers and the business community.

The findings could help to narrow inequality gaps between and within economies.

The paper combines insights from high-profile cases with those from academic sources. The analysis is also undertaken from the combined perspectives of law, economics and accounting. It also focuses in secrecy issues in both offshore and onshore financial centres.

Offshore financial centres (OFCs) have again come under the spotlight. They have been accused of aiding terrorists by laundering their financial resources, allowing the funding of terrorism to go undetected. Their role as tax havens have also been highlighted in the collapse of Enron, a company that used OFCs to avoid paying millions of dollars in US tax. In response many OFCs have agreed to freeze terrorists’ assets, tighten money laundering legislation, provide a more open tax system and share information. There are, however, some OFCs that are resisting the mounting pressure to conform to international standards. These will become targets once more in June, 2002, when the Financial Action Task Force starts the process of identifying jurisdictions that ‘lack appropriate measures to combat terrorist financing’.

This paper aims to investigate the position of international financial services centres (IFSCs) in the International Federation of Accountants’ countries’ status on the adoption of International Standards on Auditing (ISA) and assess the factors influencing ISA adoption in these centres.

This research drew its data from various sources, including the World Economic Forum (WEF) data set, the World Bank Report on Observation of Standards and Codes, the World Development Indicators and the Economic Intelligence Unit Report on Democracy Index on 50 countries classified as IFSCs. The adoption status is then regressed on a number of variables of interest. To establish that the results are robust, the authors used a combination of different regression techniques comprising OLS, multinomial and logistic regressions.

In addition to the gross domestic product growth and education level, this paper adds new evidence to the literature by reporting the positive association between the level of democracy and the enforcement of securities’ regulation on ISA adoption. It argues that political, economic, social and legal factors impact on ISA adoption in the IFSCs.

The sample size is limited to 50 from a population of 99 IFSCs because of the lack of data. Some of the independent variables are basically archival data. Reliance is placed on WEF with regard to the measurement of protection of minority interest, securities and exchange regulations and on the Economic Intelligence Unit for democracy index.

This paper stresses the importance of ISAs in IFSCs and the role of political power and the enforcement of securities laws on the adoption of ISA.

This study fills the research gap relating to the absence of empirical studies on ISA adoption and its drivers in IFSCs.

The purpose of this paper is to chart the development of financial services education from its origins in the insurance industry to the current offering for people who wish to work in the life and non-life insurance industry. Financial services education within Ireland has evolved over time. Originally perceived to be an outpost of the British Insurance Institute, it is the responsibility of a variety of institutes that operate in the financial sectors, covering a range which includes insurance, banking and credit unions. Where tertiary education was optional, it is now a requirement of the regulator that people working in this sector have achieved at least this standard. Additionally, specialist qualifications for those working in the industry are being developed with academic involvement, as the institutes work to provide professional qualifications.

To compare and contrast the Irish regulatory requirements, an analysis of other European Union (EU) national requirements was conducted, illustrating differences in education and current certification requirements.

Educational requirements in Ireland go a long way in terms of ensuring that workers in financial services are adequately skilled in terms of academic, professional, ethical and continuous professional development (CPD). The Irish system covers a lot of aspects of financial services minimum competency code that is implemented in other EU jurisdictions, and in some cases, it has a unique approach in CPD.

Serves as a comparable study of minimum competency requirements of EU for financial services employees and highlights differences in requirements across borders.

This is a unique study of minimum competency code that has been implemented by financial regulators across EU member states and its impact in the industry in terms of raising the requirements of people involved in the sector.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the accounting development process and international financial reporting standards (IFRS) in small island economies (SIEs), with particular reference to Mauritius. SIEs are different from large economies in terms of economic and political dependence, colonial influences and international pressures, as well as vulnerability to natural shocks.

This paper uses Briston's Accounting Evolutionary Theory (BAET) and the Transcendental Stage of Accounting Development (TSAD) proposed by Boolaky and adopts a descripto‐explanatory research tradition to explain accounting development and IFRS in Mauritius. Data on key development economic policies between 1960 and 2008 are collected and analysed using secondary sources, whereas data related to colonisation and basis of legal system are archived from the National Library.

Mauritius has experienced little difficulty compared to other countries in the African region such as Madagascar, Mozambique, Angola, Swaziland etc. in its accounting development process because it is used to the Anglo‐Saxon accounting system, has adopted the phase‐by‐phase development process, has an adequate supply of professionally qualified accountants and made IFRS compliance mandatory in 2001 through the revised Companies Act, 2001 and through the revision of other related legislations. As regards IFRS, Mauritius has a legal, political, business and economic environment conducive to sustain IFRS.

This paper applies BAET to examine accounting development from basic book‐keeping to IFRS adoption in Mauritius. It also explains that there is a transcendental stage of accounting development which BAET has not taken into consideration.

There is no previous study which has used BAET and TSAD to examine accounting development and IFRS in small island jurisdictions. Previous studies have mostly focused on large economies. This paper also provides a basis for future research in similar jurisdictions.

The purpose here is to show how the “shadow” economy has grown in scale and impetus in recent years, though even before modern times it has been present (e.g. the City of London, Shaxson, 2011) since at least the middle ages. The reasons for this have become complicated, but we can identify some “deep structures” that are common. Firstly, “globalisation” made it easier for multinationals to escape national regulatory regimes. Secondly, one of the ways neoliberal trading regulations allowed such actors to augment their assets was by means of what they initially called “transfer-pricing” but which now is officially known as “profit shifting” through tax havens. Thirdly, the growth in international trade in legal and illegal ways caused money laundering – even by otherwise respectable banks – to grow across borders. Conversely, from the supply-side, tax haven status was increasingly accessed by jurisdictions that sought to achieve economic growth by supplying tax haven services, both Delaware and Ireland as exemplars of a “developmental” fiscal policy.

This paper adopts a “pattern recognition” design, an approach that is abductive, meaning interpretive, as shown in the observation that explanation can be valid or reliable without direct observation. This is shown in the indirect observation that “rain fell because the terrace has puddles” or “ancient glaciers once carved this valley”.

Reviewing the European Union’s (EU) list of non-co-operating jurisdictions in support of the OECD’s review of base erosion and profit-shifting activity, Collin concluded the EU’s listing “moved the needle” somewhat but was only a modest success. This is because of its reluctance to sanction its own members or large economies like the USA. Data on foreign direct investment and offshore banking assets suggest listed jurisdictions did not suffer notably from being named and shamed. In all cases studied, this contribution found legally damaging, fraudulent, conflict of interest and corrupt practice activities everywhere.

The originality is found in three spheres. Firstly, the pattern recognition method was vindicated in yielding hard to research results. Secondly, the “assemblage-thirdspace” theory was found advantageous in demonstrating the uneven geography of tax haven clusters and their common history in turbocharging economic development. Finally, the empirics showed the ruses executed by cluster members in tax havens to circumvent the law from global management consultancies to micro-firms consisting of tax lawyers and other experts interacting in knowledge supply chains of dubious morality.

The purpose of this paper is to chart the chronology of insurance regulation in Ireland and evaluate the integration within European Union directives.

The approach used was to chart the development of insurance regulation in Ireland and establish the stakeholders in the insurance industry that are affected by regulation. The various aspects of the EU involvement in regulation were also listed.

Ireland is one of the few countries that has a single financial regulator that is the Central (Reserve) Bank. The Central Bank is recognised as the Irish national regulator for all insurance activities in the EU and with that carries responsibility for implementing EU directives. In comparing other regulatory systems, there is a mixture of direct government involvement, sector specific regulation, financial services regulation and Central Bank acting as regulator.

Research is based on literature review and data obtained from the EU regarding national regulators. It does not set a standard of regulation or compare different regulators but establishes the different forms of regulation in Ireland and the EU.

The paper establishes Ireland's insurance regulatory environment amongst its European peers. It also charts the development of insurance regulation from solvency to the current model of solvency and consumer protection with the other offices of Financial Services Ombudsman.

The paper is based on research based on literature review and data obtained from the EU regarding national regulators.

Regeneration concerns the physical and economic renewal of locations with development and investment in property a fundamental part of the process and product. Considers the case of Dublin, where designated areas, including the dock‐lands, have been stimulated by taxation breaks within a structure‐agency model. These mechanisms are initially reviewed to provide a context in which the property market has been operating. Focuses on the performance of office property in Dublin and compares rental return evidence for the city centre market with that for the International Financial Services Centre, one of the original designated renewal areas in the dock‐lands. Conclusions focus on how taxation breaks can be used to create new office locations and how the regeneration market can become tax‐driven with dual structures existing between urban regeneration areas and the prime market.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the Irish banking crisis and explain how various factors contribute to a collapse in asset prices, an economic recession and the near failure of the banking system. The paper seeks to document the dangers of pro‐cyclical monetary and government policies, particularly in an environment of benign financial regulation and pent‐up demand for credit.

The paper maps the Irish banking crisis against its general background. It describes the roots of the crisis, with particular attention given to government and monetary policies, the practices of the financial regulator and banks during the property bubble, together with the difficulties associated with the international sub‐prime crisis.

While the global financial crisis exacerbated matters, the banking crisis in Ireland was largely a home‐grown phenomenon. The crisis stemmed from the collapse of the domestic property sector and subsequent contraction in national output. Its root cause can be found in the inadequate risk management practices of the Irish banks and the failure of the financial regulator to supervise these practices effectively.

The paper documents the “Celtic Tiger” phenomenon of the last decade: the Irish economic and property miracle, its sharp decline, and the sub‐prime crisis. It delineates one of the most severe banking and economic crisis in a developed country since the great depression with a number of key policy lessons for rapidly expanding economies.

This chapter examines the roles and challenges for the Irish economy in the aftermath of the collapse of the Celtic Tiger and the onset of the 2008 economic crisis. Specifically, it does review the role that Government, the Central Bank of Ireland, and the Financial Regulator had before, during and after the collapse of both the Irish banking system and property market. This chapter explains the drivers behind the growth of the Celtic Tiger and the sources of leverage that amplified the severity of the subsequent collapse. Specifically, this chapter focuses on the changes that have since been made and provides a review of the lessons that can be obtained from the collapse.

The results presented in this chapter are based on analysis of secondary sources and a literature review to determine conceptual and theoretical frameworks for identifying the specific issues that the Irish economy endured since the 2008 economic crisis and the red flags and signals that were either missed or ignored.

Combined with the subprime collapse of 2007 and the international sovereign debt crisis evident since 2008, Ireland and the actions of its regulators and policy makers undoubtedly generated not only a catalyst to financial ruin, but also an incubator to aid its severity. The precise drivers that created the Celtic Tiger remained unchanged and played a significant role in the subsequent collapse. Banks were leveraged towards the Irish property market and the role of leverage in financial markets created mispricing, to which the basic principles of the efficient market hypothesis (EMH) failed. This miscalculation of risk was severe and destructive for the real economy. The reward for this error was a place in history as an ‘I’ in the derogatory term ‘PIIGS’.

This chapter could be used as teaching material for undergraduate and masters programmes in economics and finance. It provides a response to further understand the behaviour of the Irish economy during the development of the Celtic Tiger and the subsequent financial collapse that enveloped the Irish state.

This chapter discusses the role of leverage throughout a financial system and the necessity for financial monitors to promote an environment of sustainability and financial endurance; that which can survive an international financial crisis event.