September 14, 2021
by Pedro Izquierdo Addressing trade misinvoicing is a complex endeavor as it is considered one of the weakest links in the fight against money laundering, especially in developing countries like Mexico and Colombia. Trade misinvoicing is one...
February 1, 2021
By Andrew Peters Corruption perception, not incidence, is the biggest predictor of violence. Security and corruption are the main concerns of the Mexican public. So what factors lead to violence and corruption? How are violence and corruption...
By Heather Lowe, February 8, 2018
Yesterday’s announcement of a guilty plea by Rabobank NA with corresponding penalty and forfeiture of $369 million did not immediately strike people as new or surprising. In fact, the pattern of anti-money laundering/Bank Secrecy Act (AML/BSA) violations...
WASHINGTON, DC – Illicit financial flows from developing and emerging economies surged to US$1.1 trillion in 2013, according to a study released Wednesday by Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington, DC-based research and advisory organization. Authored by GFI Chief Economist Dev Kar and GFI Junior Economist Joseph Spanjers, the report pegs cumulative illicit outflows from developing economies at US$7.8 trillion between 2004 and 2013, the last year for which data are available.
Photos from “Illicit Financial Flows: The Most Damaging Economic Problem Facing the Developing World,” a 2-day conference in Washington, DC that was hosted by Global Financial Integrity and held at the National Press Club.
By Tom Cardamone, October 6, 2015
Based on the culmination of work GFI has done with the support of the Ford Foundation including a book by GFI, the conference included discussions and keynote remarks from experts on the nature of IFFs, country-level perspectives, and how and why curtailing these IFFs should be a priority for the global community.
By Joseph Spanjers, November 21, 2014
The United Nations is in the process of forming the post-2015 development agenda. These proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will eventually replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that were agreed upon for 2000-2015. As with the MDGs, the SDGs will inform which development issues take priority in the coming years.
Sustainable Development Goal 16.4, as is currently proposed by the UN’s Open Working Group, calls on the international community to:
“by 2030 reduce illicit financial and arms flows, strengthen recovery and return of stolen assets, and combat all forms of organized crime.”
Global Financial Integrity (GFI) applauds the Open Working Group for considering illicit financial flows in its proposal. Though Goal 16.4 is definitely a start in the right direction, it is not exclusively focused on illicit financial flows, nor is it measurable in the least. GFI proposes the following as an alternative:
“by 2030, reduce illicit financial flows related to trade misinvoicing by 50%.”
WASHINGTON, DC – As the world observes International Anti-Corruption Day this Sunday, December 9, 2012, Global Financial Integrity highlighted some of the most notable achievements, developments, and short-comings in the fight against corruption over the past year.