ITICnet.org Weekly Round-Up
22 June
ITIC Mid-Year Board Luncheon/Diplomatic Dialogue Held in London
Yesterday in London ITIC convened Board members and diplomats from Eurasia, Africa, Asia, and Latin America for a luncheon and discussion featuring remarks from Lord David Howell (former Foreign Office Minister and Secretary of State for Energy) and Professor Michael Keen (Deputy Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF).
ITIC Participates in Congressional Roundtable on Illicit Trade
ITIC Vice President Blake Marshall participated in a  Congressional Roundtable on Illicit Trade  this week hosted by the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission). 

The roundtable included participation by several Congressional staff members, and featured speakers from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Department of Homeland Security, FBI, and the State Department. [ More Information ]
Comments Invited on New IGF-OECD Draft Toolkit
The Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recently released a draft toolkit for public comments (by 6 July 2018) entitled,  The Hidden Cost of Tax Incentives in Mining .

As a complement to the work by the "Platform for Collaboration on Tax," this  consultation draft  was prepared "to help governments anticipate and limit the cost of mining tax incentives. It is part of wider efforts to address some of the challenges developing countries are facing in raising revenue from their mining sectors." [ More Information ]
IMF Concludes Sri Lanka Article IV Consultation
Earlier this month, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation with Sri Lanka, noting that the Sri Lanka economy "is expected to normalize gradually" but that the "economy remains vulernable to adverse domestic and external shocks, given the still sizable public debt, large refinancing needs, and low external buffers." [ Continue reading ]
WCO Holds Customs Workshops in Azerbaijan
The World Customs Organization (WCO) recently held two workshops in Baku for officials from the Azerbaijan State Customs Service (SCC), focusing on  “improving X-Ray images analysis capabilities”  and  “the importance of securing and facilitating trade,”   respectively.
Kazakhstan Signs OECD Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement
According to a recent update to the   list of signatories   provided by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Republic of Kazakhstan signed the "Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Exchange of Country-by-Country Reports" (CbC MCAA) on 12 June. More information on the OECD's CbC exchange relationship is  available here .
Transfer Pricing of Cash Pooling Arrangements
A recent article featured on   TPweek.com   discusses how issues related to cash pooling arrangements have evolved in recent years as companies operate in the new BEPS environment.  [ Full Article ]