Report Highlights the Human Cost to Developing Countries of Corruption and the Financial Structures Facilitating It
World Leaders Must Act to Implement Effective Transparency Measures at This Year’s G20 Summit and Beyond
WASHINGTON, DC – The ONE Campaign, an international advocacy and campaigning organization, today released a report, entitled “The Trillion-Dollar Scandal,” highlighting the cost of corruption and other forms of illicit financial flows to developing countries and enumerating several crucial steps world leaders can take to curb these flows. Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington-DC based research and advocacy organization, applauded the report as a welcome and timely addition to this important discussion in international development.
Live Webcast Event to Feature Asst. U.S. Secretary of State Tom Malinowski, Representatives from the World Bank, Transparency International USA, Global Integrity, and GFI
“State Of Rights” Panel to Be Live-Streamed on Wednesday, September 3, 2014 at 10am EDT (3pm BST / London)
WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity’s Heather Lowe is slated to appear on a U.S. State Department panel Wednesday morning, September 3, 2014 discussing the links between governance and human rights and addressing ways to curb corruption. Titled, “Government for the People: Combating Corruption,” Wednesday’s panel is the first in a series of conversations that the State Department will be sponsoring under the “State of Rights” theme.
GFI Warned of Shortcomings of Original Standard Chartered Settlement in August 2012
Regulators Fail Again to Hold Individuals Accountable for Serious Anti-Money Laundering Lapses, Providing No Deterrent to Future Misconduct
WASHINGTON, DC – As New York regulators announced that British bank Standard Chartered PLC will pay a fine of $300 million for failing to rectify anti-money laundering deficiencies as required by the bank’s August 2012 settlement with New York regulators, Global Financial Integrity (GFI) warned that the agreement underscored the fact that fines and monitoring are insufficient for deterring illicit activity at international banks.
Working Group Must Address Trade Misinvoicing and Role of U.S. Business and Government in Facilitating Illicit Finance to Be Truly Effective, Warns GFI
Illicit Financial Flows Drain US$55.6bn Annually from African Continent, Sapping GDP, Undermining Development, and Fueling Crime, Corruption, and Tax Evasion
WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) welcomed the announcement from the White House and African leaders today regarding the establishment of a bilateral U.S.-Africa Partnership to Combat Illicit Finance, but the Washington-DC based research and advocacy organization cautioned that any effective partnership must be sure to address deficiencies in both the U.S. and in Africa that facilitate the hemorrhage of illicit capital from Africa.
Illicit Financial Flows Draining US$55.6bn Annually from Continent
U.S. Must Address Its Role as a Major Facilitator of Such Outflows
WASHINGTON, DC – As African leaders descend on Washington this week for the historic U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, Global Financial Integrity (GFI) called on the Obama Administration and Heads of State from across the continent to prioritize efforts to curtail illicit financial flows from Africa, which GFI estimates cost the continent roughly US$55.6 billion per year over the past decade.
GFI’s Platform Issue Moving Forward to International Implementation
GFI Notes that Issues Still Need to Be Addressed, Warns that Developing Country Participation is Critical
WASHINGTON, DC – The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) today released a document encompassing standard agreements for the automatic exchange of financial information between countries as well as newly drafted guidance on implementing those agreements, in moves generally welcomed by Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington, DC-based research and advocacy organization. In their press release, the OECD also asked for comments from the public by September 12th about how the framework for voluntary disclosure by taxpayers could be improved. The documents are expected to be formally adopted at the G20 Summit in Australia in November 2014, after approval by the G20 Finance Ministers at their September 20-21st meeting in Cairns.
U.S. Government Fails Again to Hold Individuals Accountable for Wanton Violations of U.S. Sanctions Law, Providing No Deterrent to Future Misconduct
Settlement Fits Same Mold as Previous Cases, Perpetuates “Too Big to Jail”
WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) expressed skepticism today that the settlement reached between the United States government and BNP Paribas SA would effectively punish the company for its systematic subversion of U.S. sanctions over a decade-long period or effectively deter similar conduct in the future.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced late on Monday that “between 2004 and 2012, BNP engaged in a complex and pervasive scheme to illegally move billions through the U.S. financial system on behalf of sanctioned entities” in Sudan, Iran, and Cuba, going “to elaborate lengths to conceal prohibited transactions, cover its tracks, and deceive U.S. authorities.” This pattern of behavior continued despite warnings by U.S. officials, opinions from reputable international law firms, and repeated statements from the bank’s own compliance officials that this conduct was illegal. According to the New York Department of Financial Services, the transactions involved totaled greater than $190 billion.
Council of the European Union Approves Text and Timetable for Directive, Including Crucial Measures on Beneficial Ownership Transparency.
WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) praised the Council of the European Union for continuing today the EU’s movement towards cracking down on anonymous companies, a major conduit for laundering the proceeds of crime, corruption, and tax evasion.
The Council, which is composed of government ministers from each EU member country, agreed on a revised text of changes to the EU’s Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD), which will now return to the Parliament for a second reading and negotiations with the Council on final wording. The Council text retains the requirement, which the European Parliament overwhelmingly approved in March, that companies and trusts formed in every EU country disclose their “beneficial owners,” or the natural persons who ultimately own or control them, to a central authority.
“We strongly praise the Council for its movement to crack down on anonymous companies,” said GFI President Raymond Baker, a longtime authority on financial crime. “As our research notes, nearly $70 billion flowed illegally into or out of emerging EU economies in 2011. Anonymous companies are the number one tool for laundering the proceeds of crime, corruption, and tax evasion. Creating registries of the true, human, ‘beneficial’ owner of each company—as the Council endorsed today—is a common sense approach to curbing financial crime and the tremendous flow of illegal money.”
