Key issues
- 50% of the world’s trade passes through tax havens (Tax and Legal Havens Platform, France), so it avoids all forms of tax and checks
- Each year, ten times the equivalent of international aid (ODA) flows out of developing countries to tax havens (Global Financial Integrity)
- 50% of international bank loans are registered in tax havens (Tax and legal havens platform, France)
- In developing countries, 80% of beneficiaries of microcredit loans are women and 70% are in rural areas (Microfinance barometer 2012, www.convergences.org)
- In 2011 microcredit grew by 15% in the Americas and Africa. (Microfinance barometer 2013, www.convergences.org).
The Emmaus Ethical Fund
Banca Etica is a cooperative bank, set up in 1999 by a group of Italian organisations including Emmaus Italy. Emmaus International forged links with the bank after the world assembly in 2003 laid out guidelines for the advancement of ethical finance.
Then, in 2007 came the launch of the Emmaus Ethical Fund, which aims to put Emmaus organisations’ savings to good use. It’s used to guarantee loans granted by Banca Etica to Emmaus organisations for their projects promoting a social economy, and to other organisations that share the same values.
- Asia: AEP, Lebanon
Microcredit loans, professional advice and support for borrowers - The Americas: Emmaus Uruguay
Campaigning for debt cancellation - Africa: Emmaus Pahou, Benin
Microcredit loans for women - Europe: Ferrara, Italy
Appeal to Emmaus communities to bank with ethical banks
SHOW YOUR SUPPORT
- Bank with ethical banks
- Contribute to the Emmaus Ethical Fund
- Campaign against the free trade agreement between Europe and the United States (the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) (website in French)
- Collective for a citizen-led audit of public debt(website in French)
Jubilee debt campaign - Fighting tax havens in Europe:
Stop paradis fiscaux (website in French)
Tackle Tax Havens (website in French)
Kamal Zamroud,
beneficiary of microcredit loans from Emmaus AEP, Lebanon
“Since 2000, AEP (the Professional Mutual Aid Organisation) has granted me five microcredit loans which have helped me extend my plant nursery. The loans can be paid back over two years, with lower interest rates than standard bank loans. In 2006, during the conflict between my country and Israel, five bombs fell on my land. I had to start all over again, but luckily AEP was there to help.”
