Christine Clough, PMP
SDG Target 16.4 Seeks to Curtail Illicit Flows to Aid Development
Action by United Nations considered “historic”
WASHINGTON, DC – Analysis of illicit financial flows (IFFs) by Global Financial Integrity (GFI) shows that over the period 2003-2012 the global volume of IFFs grew by more than nine percent annually (shown in the chart below).
In 2012 (the most recent year for which data are available), illicit flows were estimated at close to $1 trillion. In response to this unfettered surge in illicit capital leaving developing nations, the UN has endorsed target 16.4 in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which commits the global community to “significantly reduce” IFFs by 2030. This UN action “represents an historic moment in development policy given that it is the first time the international community has recognized the illicit flows problem and pledged to address it,” said GFI President Raymond Baker.
South African Broadcasting Corporation
GFI Junior Economist Joseph Spanjers spoke with South Africa’s SABC News on Wednesday, July 29th, about the damaging issue of illicit financial flows from Africa.
GFI President Raymond Baker discusses the issue of illicit financial flows (IFFs) at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies on July 15, 2015. Mr. Baker’s remarks provide an overview of the sources of illicit financial flows, how GFI’s studies are developing in the African policy arena, how terrorist groups utilize IFFs for funding opportunities, and how transparency plays an essential part in curbing illicit financial flows.
Christine Clough, PMP
Former President Continued Call on Africa’s and World’s Leaders to Prioritize Financial Transparency
WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) welcomes the statements made yesterday by former South African President Thabo Mbeki on illicit financial flows at the third Financing for Development Conference. At an event in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Mbeki noted that in order to address the issue of illicit flows “there needs to be a concerted and sustained campaign around the world.” “The principle challenge we face” he said, “is one of implementation.” He expressed optimism about the impact the Financing for Development conference will have on illicit flows noting that there is “a common commitment” to address the problem “at a global level and at a national level.”
Christine Clough, PMP
Governments Commit to “Substantially Reduce Illicit Financial Flows by 2030”
Development Accord Seeks to Curb an Estimated $1 Trillion in Annual Outflows
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – Global Financial Integrity (GFI), the Africa Progress Panel (APP) and Jubilee USA applauded the global commitment made today at the Third Financing for Development Conference (FfD3) to reduce the massive flow of illicit funds from developing country economies. For the first time international consensus was reached on the importance of an issue that has been at the forefront of efforts by hundreds of research and development organizations for the last ten years. The negotiations concluded today and formal adoption of the document will take place on Thursday.
It’s Better to Adopt Measures to Tighten the Creation of Black Money than to Be Quixotic about its Return
Despite India’s support for it at the G-20, the OECD’s automatic exchange of financial information (AEFI) regime is riddled with loopholes that make its usefulness questionable.
Successive governments have attempted to curtail the black money menace through policy action and moral suasion. But the recent slew of measures, including bilateral and multilateral initiatives — most recently, India and the United States signed an agreement under the American Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act — is perhaps the most far-reaching in memory. Black money or illicit financial flows violate laws in their creation, utilisation or transference. They have had a pernicious influence in India since Independence — from the financing of elections to that of terrorism against the state.
Christine Clough, PMP
Initiative Funded by the Government of Norway
WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) is pleased to announce the launch of a new program that seeks to assist developing country governments with increasing domestic resource capture by curtailing trade misinvoicing, and continuing work to educate policy makers about the corrosive impact illicit financial flows have on developing economies.
The Most Important Step that Can Be Taken Toward Equitable, Sustainable Development in the Years Ahead Is Legitimate Trade
Plastic buckets from the Czech Republic at $970 each? Brown sugar from Turkey going for $240 per pound? Or weed whackers shipped to Venezuela at $12,300 apiece?
These are all examples of the troubling and growing phenomenon known as trade misinvoicing — the fraudulent over- and under-invoicing of international trade transactions to secretly move money, covering the proceeds of crime, corruption, and tax evasion.
