June 8, 2009
Monique Perry Danziger, +1 202 293 0740 ext. 222
WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) Advisory Board member Eva Joly has been elected to the European Parliament as one of four Green Party candidates chosen by French voters after four days of voting in the 27 European Union nations.
Ms. Joly is famous as the French magistrate who ignored threats on her life to investigate and uncover bribery and corruption within the French government and expose several cases of fraud at France’s leading oil company – Elf Aquitaine in the nineties. In September 2005, Ms. Joly accepted a position with the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) where she focused on efforts to combat international corruption. Prior to that, she served as assistant secretary general within the Norwegian Ministry of Justice where she was responsible for combating corruption and money laundering.
In an interview with the French publication Le Monde, Ms. Joly stated that she would like to create a commission in charge of studying the impact of illicit financial outflows from developing countries and the role of tax havens and other secrecy jurisdictions.
Ms. Joly has been a member of the Advisory Board since its formation in 2006 and an active participant in GFI initiatives including the recent launch of the Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development. In December 2008, she co-authored a piece with GFI director Raymond Baker for the French publication Commentaire titled “Illicit Financial Flows: The Next Big Issue in Political Economy.”
“Ms. Joly is a tireless fighter against corruption,” said GFI director Raymond Baker. “GFI congratulates her on this victory and looks forward to seeing her bring her tenacity and anti-corruption, pro-accountability ideas to the table as the EU moves forward with its recent attempts to tackle banking secrecy and tax haven abuse.”