The Financial Secrecy Index is an example of team work. We are listing here those individuals who were closely involved in the design and research of the 2022 edition. Ultimately, the full Tax Justice Network team is feeding into the FSI research.
Markus Meinzer, Director, Financial Secrecy & Governance
Markus Meinzer is the director of the Financial Secrecy and Governance workstream at the Tax Justice Network. He authored the book “Tax Haven Germany” (“Steueroase Deutschland”), published in 2015 at C.H. Beck, and was the Tax Justice Network’s principal investigator on the COFFERS EU research project under Horizon 2020 (Combating Fiscal Fraud and Empowering Regulators). He obtained his PhD in economics at Utrecht University (“Countering cross-border tax evasion and avoidance. An assessment of OECD policy design from 2008 to 2018“).
Moran Harari, Lead Researcher, Indices
Moran completed her LL.B at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and her LL.M in human rights law at University College London (UCL). Alongside her role at the Tax Justice Network she is also Director of TJN Israel. She worked for several years as a tax lawyer in Tel Aviv, and has worked in the Corporate Social Responsibility field both in London and Israel.
Rest of the team in alphabetical order by surname
Leyla Ates, Researcher
Leyla Ates graduated from the Istanbul University Faculty of Law, Turkey. She holds an LL.M. and a Ph.D. on tax law from the Marmara University, Turkey. She also received an LL.M. degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School, the United States. She is currently a Professor of Tax Law at the Altinbas University Law School, Turkey. Her research interests are in the area of income taxation, international taxation and tax policy.
Mark Bou Mansour, Communications Coordinator
Mark Bou Mansour coordinates the Tax Justice Network’s communications and campaigns. He previously worked as Communications Manager at the Family and Childcare Trust and at iguacu. Mark holds a Masters in Social and Political Studies from the University of Sussex.
Alex Cobham, Chief Executive
Alex Cobham is an economist and chief executive of the Tax Justice Network. He is also a founding member of the steering group of the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation, and of the technical advisory group for the Fair Tax Mark. His work focuses on illicit financial flows, effective taxation for development, and inequality. He has been a researcher at Oxford University, Christian Aid, Save the Children, and the Center for Global Development, and has consulted widely, including for UNCTAD, the UN Economic Commission for Africa, DFID, and the World Bank. He recently published two books: The Uncounted (Polity Press), and Estimating Illicit Financial Flows: A Critical Guide to the Data, Methodologies, and Findings, with Petr Janský (Oxford University Press, open access).
Eva Danzi, Researcher
Eva is a researcher at the Tax Justice Network and is part of the core Research team for the Financial Secrecy Index and Corporate Tax Haven Index. She is based in Rome, Italy. She holds an MA in International Law from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS Univerisity of London), and a BA in International Relations from La Sapienza University of Rome, during which spent two semesters as an exchange student at the European Studies faculty at Sorbonne Nouvelle University- Paris III. She has previously worked for Tax Justice Network Africa and the Financial Transparency Coalition, and she contributes to the work of Tax Justice Italy.
Rachel Etter-Phoya, Senior Researcher, Anglophone African Hub
Rachel Etter-Phoya is the Tax Justice Network’s Senior Researcher, Anglophone African Hub. Based in Lilongwe, Malawi, she works on the Financial Secrecy and Tax Advocacy in Africa project. Before joining the Tax Justice Network, Rachel supported the Natural Resources Justice Network and Publish What You Pay Malawi. Rachel has also worked as a Senior Revenue Specialist in Malawi’s Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining and has consulted with a number of organisations engaged in open data, anti-corruption and the extractive industries, including the Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa, OpenOil, Open Knowledge International, and Resources for Development. Rachel holds a LLM in Natural Resources Law and Policy from the University of Dundee, a MSc in International Rural Development from the Royal Agricultural University, and a BA in Anthropology and English from the University of Zurich.
Daniel Figueroa, Researcher
Daniel is part of the core research team for the Financial Secrecy Index and the Corporate Tax Haven Index. He studied Political Science and a Master’s degree in Public Policy at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. As a Chevening Scholar, Daniel also completed a Master’s in Corruption and Governance at the Centre for the Study of Corruption of the University of Sussex.
Layne Hofman, Program Manager, Latin America
Layne Hofman is a Project Manager for the Tax Justice Network’s Financial Secrecy Index workstream, specifically supporting the Tax Justice Network’s Financial Secrecy and Tax Advocacy in Latin America (FASTLA) project. Layne studied Political Science and Human Rights at Agnes Scott College in Georgia, USA. She has experience in NGO project management and advocacy from her previous work on the civil society report for the Universal Periodic Review of the United States, as well as from her time spent at Population Services International supporting public health and social marketing programmes in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Andres Knobel, Lead Researcher Beneficial Ownership
Andres Knobel is Lead Researcher Beneficial Ownership for the Tax Justice Network. He studied Law at the University of Buenos Aires and was an exchange student at Columbia University in New York. He completed his Master’s degree in Law and Economics at Di Tella University, focusing on tax law and public policy. His work focuses on beneficial ownership, offshore trusts and automatic exchange of banking information.
Martin Kopeček, Data Engineer
Martin is a web developer specialising at data visualizations and interactive web apps and a data management specialist. Before TJN Martin was an advisor to the deputy minister at the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic. Martin holds a Master’s in Economics from Charles University in Prague.
Shanna Lima, Researcher
Shanna is a researcher at the Tax Justice Network’s Financial Secrecy and Tax Advocacy in Latin America (FASTLA) project. She holds master’s degrees in Development Studies from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Sussex and in Economics from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). Before joining the Tax Justice Network, Shanna worked for several years as an account manager at the Brazilian Development Bank.
Florencia Lorenzo, Researcher
Florencia is a Latin America-based researcher at the Tax Justice Network. She studied Social Sciences at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais and is currently completing her Master’s degree in Political Science at the same institution. She is part of the core research team for the Financial Secrecy Index and the Corporate Tax Haven Index.
Lucas Milan, Senior Researcher
Lucas Millán is a senior researcher for the Tax Justice Network’s Financial Secrecy Index and Corporate Tax Haven Index. He studied in France and the United States, completing Bachelors’ degrees at Pierre et Marie Curie and Panthéon-Assas universities, followed by Masters degrees at Paris-Sorbonne and Boston universities. His academic path has taken him from mathematics and law, to international relations, and finally to tax law and policy. In close collaboration with other members of the Tax Justice Network team, he researches technical aspects of financial secrecy corporate tax evasion, breaking the veil of legal complexity to address damaging policies implemented around the world. Combining quantitative and comparative legal analysis, he develops index methodologies and risk assessment frameworks.
Miroslav Palanský, Data Scientist
Miroslav Palanský is a post-doctoral researcher at the Institute of Economic Studies, Charles University, Prague, and a data scientist at the Tax Justice Network. Through his research, he aims to help in the ongoing fight against corruption, tax abuse and financial secrecy. He holds a Master’s and a Ph.D. in Economics from Charles University and a Master’s in Econometrics from Aix-Marseille University.