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.
GFI and 16 Other Groups Send Letter to Treasury Department Urging Efforts to Combat Money Laundering through Real Estate and Curb the Abuse of Anonymous Companies at Banks
On March 10, 2015, Global Financial Integrity and 16 other organizations sent a joint letter to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a division of the U.S. Department of the Treasury charged with combatting money laundering. The letter calls on FinCEN to require due diligence in the real estate sector and to require enhanced due diligence by financial institutions by requiring them to know the true, human, beneficial owners of all accounts opened in their bank.
Top Wall Street Banker Understood the Need for Transparency in the Global Financial System
“A True American Statesman and Hero”
WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) praised John C. Whitehead, a longtime member of the organization’s Advisory Board, as a true American hero and champion of ethics on Wall Street upon his passing at the age of 92 on Saturday. A World War II veteran, who commanded a D-Day landing craft ferrying troops to Omaha Beach, Mr. Whitehead went on to lead Goldman Sachs and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York before serving as Deputy U.S. Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan. Mr. Whitehead most recently led efforts to help rebuild Manhattan following the September 11th terrorist attacks and served as Chairman of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation.
Swiss Leaks Findings Emblematic of Opaque System Illegally Draining US$1 Trillion Annually from Developing Economies
GFI: Bankers and Bank Executives Must be Held Accountable for their Behavior
WASHINGTON, DC – Leaked HSBC documents revealed today by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) highlight a culture of corruption in the international banking system that goes far beyond the world’s second biggest bank, noted Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington, DC-based research and advocacy organization. Featured Sunday evening on CBS News’ 60 Minutes program, the files allegedly highlight how the Swiss branch of the bank meticulously catered to some of the world’s biggest dictators and criminals, and they are but the latest example of a global bank gone rogue.
Tom Cardamone
Modi Can Lead an International Consensus on Curbing the Flow of Illicit Funds
India has a tremendous opportunity to increase its influence on the world stage. With the second largest population, 10th largest economy, and strategic position among G-20 countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi can, if he chooses, speak articulately for billions of people struggling for a fair share of the world’s riches. At home, his nation continues to face significant challenges in the areas of education, health, sanitation, and inequality. This dichotomy of having a foot in two camps simultaneously — among the richest and poorest nations — provides the platform on which India can seek a much-improved global economic consensus.
Game-Changing Recommendations Urge Institutionalization of Efforts to Combat Illicit Flows, Promote Financial Transparency
Mbeki-Led Group Also Calls for Public Registries of Beneficial Ownership, Public Country-by-Country Reporting for Multinationals
WASHINGTON, DC / ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) welcomed a new report from the African Union (AU) and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa’s (UNECA) High Level Panel (HLP) on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa as a game-changer in the movement to curtail illicit financial flows and promote financial transparency. Chaired by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, the HLP’s final report recommends putting efforts to curtail trade-related illicit flows—constituting the vast majority of measurable illicit financial flows (IFFs)—foremost in African and global efforts to curb the ongoing illegal outflow of African wealth.
GFI’s Heather Lowe Testified at Public Hearing against Exempting Credit Suisse from U.S. Regulation Barring It from Claiming Preferential Asset Manager Status in Wake of Criminal Tax Evasion Conviction
WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) Legal Counsel and Director of Government Affairs Heather Lowe testified Thursday at a U.S. Department of Labor hearing where she cautioned policymakers against granting Credit Suisse AG (Credit Suisse) a special exemption from U.S. regulations barring it and its affiliates from receiving preferential asset manager treatment after the bank was criminally convicted of willfully aiding in U.S. tax evasion on an industrial scale over many years.
