E.J. Fagan, +1 202 293 0740 ext. 227
WASHINGTON, DC – As the world commemorates International Anti-Corruption Day on Monday, December 9, 2013, Global Financial Integrity (GFI)—a Washington-based, non-profit research and advocacy organization—reviewed many of the most notable achievements, developments, and shortcomings in fighting corruption and illicit financial flows for 2013.
“2013 has proven to be a landmark year in terms of policy advancements to curtail corruption and illicit financial flows,” said GFI President Raymond Baker, a longtime authority on financial crime. “Years of hard work by policymakers, researchers, and advocates culminated in real, on-the-ground policy achievements that will directly impact the amount of money leaving developing countries. We saw a few setbacks, but overall the year was very encouraging.”
Amanda Fortier
Ibrahima Aidara
Global Financial Integrity
Recent Study Shows Integrity Institutions Lack Effectiveness in Controlling Looting of Wealth
DAKAR, Senegal – Economies in Africa have lost between $597 billion and $1.4 trillion in net resource transfers in the past three decades, despite the growth in integrity institutions on the continent, according to a recent study conducted by Global Financial Integrity (GFI). Illicit financial flows are the topic of a two-day forum organized by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and TrustAfrica on December 9th and 10th, at Terrou Bi Hotel in Dakar, Senegal.
The Right Leader for South Africa—and the World—at the Right Time
WASHINGTON DC – Global Financial Integrity today mourned the passing of civil rights leader and former South African President Nelson Mandela, who died yesterday at his home in South Africa at the age of 95. Global Financial Integrity expressed sympathy for the people of South Africa for losing an iconic leader.
After nearly three decades of imprisonment, Mandela was freed in 1990. He publicly responded with a message of reconciliation, rather than vengeance, and helped unite South Africa after the end of apartheid. Later, Mandela was elected as the first black President of South Africa, and pursued an agenda of social welfare and inclusion.
Last week, an op-ed that I wrote for The Baltimore Sun prompted a lot of very strong reactions, both positive and negative. I argued that efforts to make Bitcoins functionally anonymous are very dangerous, because money laundering is inherently very dangerous.
To summarize my argument: transnational crime is a global business valued in the hundreds of billions of dollars, and criminals need a way to easily launder, move, and invest that money to make it worth the risk. I brought up two examples—rhino poaching and human trafficking—in the op-ed, but there are dozens more crimes (including drug trafficking and weapons smuggling) to which you can refer.
A Johns Hopkins professor’s efforts to develop an untraceable digital currency are dangerous
U.S. law enforcement officials have been shutting down giant illegal marketplaces that do business in “bitcoin” and are beginning to lay out plans to regulate such digital currencies — like we do any other kind of money — by requiring that money laundering controls be applied to the transactions.
The virtual bitcoin currency is not backed by any central bank or government and can be transferred “peer to peer” between any two people anywhere. It is created through a complex computer mining process that allows people to earn new bitcoins by solving certain mathematical problems.
E.J. Fagan, +1 202 293 0740 ext. 227
New UK Public Registries to Become the Gold Standard to Combat Illicit Financial Flows
President Obama Ought Follow Cameron’s Leadership
WASHINGTON DC – Prime Minister David Cameron announced today that the United Kingdom plans to create a central public registry of corporate beneficial ownership information, and called on other countries to join the United Kingdom by establishing their own public registries.
Heather Lowe, Director of Government Affairs at Global Financial Integrity, praised the historic move, “David Cameron is proving to be the true global leader on tackling the kind of financial opacity that has stymied growth in developed and developing nations alike. Today’s announcement that the United Kingdom will not only be the first nation to collect information on who owns and controls the companies created in the UK, but that the information will be available to the public is truly groundbreaking.”
Holding Individuals Accountable and Deterring Money Laundering Act Would Address Anti-Money Laundering Deficiencies and “Too Big To Jail” Problem at American Banks; Bring U.S. in Line with International Standards
Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act Would Tackle Anonymous U.S. “Phantom Firms”
WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) welcomed the introduction late Wednesday night in the U.S. House of Representatives of two pieces of legislation aimed at stemming the flow of trillions of dollars in dirty money through the U.S. financial system. The Washington, DC-based research and advocacy organization noted that the two bills would bring the United States in line with certain international anti-money laundering (AML) standards, target individuals responsible for laundering money, and bring an end to the abuse of anonymous U.S. shell companies.
The US is the second easiest country to open a money laundering firm in. And despite tax reforms, the government is perilously behind in the movement for corporate transparency
In March 2010, facing high unemployment in the wake of the largest financial crisis since the 1930s, the US Congress passed the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (Hire), hoping to stimulate the American job market. While the Hire act dominated news headlines at the time, a lesser-known provision of the legislation, known as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca), was included in the bill as a means of paying for the stimulus measure. Few people remember the Hire act; Fatca was a real game changer.
