Which threats are lurking in the financial sector?

Publication

19 April 2019

On the eve of the C20 Summit(opens in new window) in Tokyo, Japan, SOMO publishes a short briefing paper on the growing risks in the financial sector. At the summit, civil society will launch its position paper to raise concerns and solutions to representatives of the G20(opens in new window) .

SOMO is part of the C20 Working Group on International Financial Architecture (IFA).(opens in new window) This working group focuses in the C20 position paper on how international financial and taxation systems face huge challenges regarding fiscal transparency, illicit financial flows, tax avoidance and evasion, lack of financial regulation and financial inclusion, and a growing debt burden for developing countries. The consequence is growing inequality and a lack of democratic decision-making to enact sustainable development. The C20 working group on IFA makes proposals on how the G20 can take action to solve these challenges.

The SOMO briefing provides a short background to the C20 position how the banking and investment industries are not only risky and unstable but are also undermining the sustainable development and just energy transitions of societies around the world. The paper explains how reform of the banking and investment sectors have continuously failed to deal with old risks, prevent new risks, and make the financial sector serve society. While the G20 consider no further reform of the financial sector, and some G20 countries deregulate, the paper gives a variety of stricter regulations to protect the public interest.