Christine Clough, PMP
GFI Spokespersons Available for Comment and Updates on Financing for Development (FfD), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Illicit Financial Flows, Trade Misinvoicing
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia / WASHINGTON, DC – The third Financing for Development Conference (FfD) will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, July 13-16, and Global Financial Integrity will be on the ground advocating for specific, measurable and achievable targets to significantly reduce illicit financial flows.
This process marks a momentous opportunity to create a sustained path for helping developing countries address the nearly US$1 trillion that flows out of their economies illicitly each year. Of that amount approximately $730 billion is moved offshore through trade misinvoicing (i.e. trade fraud). The related tax loss, coupled with the potential investment resources that are lost, represent significant costs to governance and development efforts in poor countries.
G7 Communiqué Ignores Illicit Flows in the Context of the Post-2015 Development Agenda
World Leaders Urged to Target Illicit Flows, Trade Misinvoicing at FfD Conference
WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) expressed disappointment in world leaders Monday for failing to advance efforts to curtail illicit financial flows—particularly in the context of the Post-2015 Development Agenda. The G7 failure comes despite a new GFI study released on Wednesday showing the outsized-impact that illicit financial flows (IFFs) have on the poorest countries in the world, and notwithstanding a Friday pledge by UK Prime Minister David Cameron to put corruption on the agenda of the G7 Summit, which concluded today in Germany.
Illicit Financial Flows Have “Outsized Impact on Poorest Countries”
FfD Negotiators Urged to Target Illicit Financial Flows and Trade Misinvoicing
WASHINGTON, DC – Illicit financial flows (IFFs), stemming from crime, corruption, and tax evasion, have an outsized impact on the world’s poorest countries, according to a new study released today by Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington, DC-based research and advisory organization. Titled “Illicit Financial Flows and Development Indices: 2008–2012,” the report also finds strong correlations between higher illicit outflows and higher levels of poverty and economic inequality.
Illicit Financial Flows “Greatly Aggravate Poverty and Oppression in Many Developing Countries”
GFI Estimates Illicit Outflows Drain 5.5% of GDP from Sub-Saharan Africa Annually
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – International and African experts on human rights and illicit financial flows are convening in Johannesburg, South Africa this week for a multi-day conference on the linkages between financial transparency and human rights in Africa.
Hosted by Global Financial Integrity (GFI)—in partnership with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) and the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI)—the event builds upon the New Haven Declaration on Human Rights and Financial Integrity (New Haven Declaration), which recognized that “human rights and international financial integrity are intimately linked.”
Les flux financiers illicites « aggravent considérablement la pauvreté et l’oppression dans de nombreux pays en voie de développement.»
GFI estime que les sorties illicites de capitaux représentent 5.5% du PIB annuel en Afrique sub-saharienne.
JOHANNESBURG, Afrique du Sud – Des spécialistes internationaux et africains des droits de l’homme et des flux financiers illicites se réunissent cette semaine à Johannesburg, en Afrique du Sud, pour une conférence de plusieurs jours sur les liens entre la transparence financière et les droits de l’homme en Afrique.
Organisée par Global Financial Integrity (GFI) – en collaboration avec la fondation Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) et l’institut des droits de l’homme de l’Association internationale du barreau (IBAHRI) – cet évènement s’appuie sur la Déclaration de New Haven sur les droits de l’homme et l’intégrité financière (Déclaration de New Haven), qui a reconnu que « les droits de l’homme et l’intégrité financière internationale sont intimement liés. »
Fluxos financeiros ilícitos “Agravam Muito a Pobreza e Opressão em Muitos Países em Desenvolvimento”
A GFI Estima que as Saídas Ilícitas Drenam 5,5% do PIB da África Subsariana anualmente
JOANESBURGO, África do Sul – Especialistas africanos e internacionais sobre direitos humanos e dos fluxos financeiros ilícitos reúnem-se em Joanesburgo, África do Sul esta semana para uma conferência de vários dia as relações entre a transparência financeira e os direitos humanos em África.
Organizada pela Global Financial Integrity (GFI) — em parceria com a Fundação Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) e o Instituto de Direitos Humanos da International Bar Association (IBAHRI) —o evento baseia-se na Declaração de New Haven sobre os Direitos Humanos e a Integridade Financeira (Declaração de New Haven), que reconheceu que “os direitos humanos e a integridade financeira internacional estão intimamente ligados.”
UK Enacts Legislation to Curb Abuse of Anonymous Companies—A Prime Money Laundering Vehicle—with Public Registry of Corporate Ownership Information
U.S. the 2nd-Easiest Place for Criminals to Open Anonymous Companies to Launder Dirty Money
WASHINGTON, DC – The United Kingdom today enacted legislation to crack down on the abuse of anonymous companies—a major conduit for laundering the proceeds of crime, corruption, and tax evasion—in a move that raises pressure on the United States to clean up its own house, noted Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington, DC-based organization working to curtail illicit financial flows.
GFI and 16 Other Groups Send Letter to FinCEN Urging Enhanced Customer Due Diligence Requirements for U.S. Banks and Real Estate Professionals
WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) and sixteen other civil society organizations called on the U.S. Department of the Treasury to curb money laundering in the U.S. financial system by requiring real estate professionals and financial institutions to know their customers. In a letter to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Treasury Department division charged with combatting money laundering with financial intelligence, the transparency groups note that the current secrecy surrounding anonymous company ownership and the lack of due diligence in the real estate sector open the U.S. financial system to rampant abuse by criminals and kleptocrats.
