December 6, 2012
WASHINGTON DC – Global Financial Integrity today called for regulators to follow-through with prosecutions for any illegal anti-money laundering lapses at HSBC Holdings Plc.
November 20, 2012
In 1961 I arrived in Lagos, Nigeria, to take over the management of a company. One of the early conversations I had was with an “old coaster,” a British gentleman who was managing director of a UK-based trading company that had been active along the west coast of Africa since the late 1800s. I asked him, “How do you do business in Africa?” He looked me skeptically up one side and down the other and wasn’t very forthcoming. I got the distinct impression that he did not like Americans showing up in his former British colony so soon after independence. But I pressed on as is my American manner and asked further, “Well, okay, tell me, how do you price your imported cars and textiles and building materials to sell in the Nigerian market?” He answered, “Price? Price is not a problem. I’m not trying to make a profit.”
Imagine my surprise. I had just finished Harvard Business School learning all about how to make a profit and here in Africa one of the first persons I encounter tells me he’s not trying to make a profit. What could be going on here?
November 14, 2012
WASHINGTON, DC – Civil society organizations welcomed today’s release of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) new guidance for businesses on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the U.S. law that makes it illegal to bribe foreign officials. The FCPA creates a strong and effective mechanism to fight financial fraud and corruption, which impede economic growth and raise the costs of doing business internationally.
November 14, 2012
WASHINGTON, DC – The Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition1 welcomed news that the U.S. Department of the Treasury will be leading a government task force to review the nation’s antiquated anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. The FACT Coalition—an alliance of more than 60 prominent anti-corruption, transparency, small business, and global development groups—originally called on the Treasury Department in September 2011 to undertake such a review.
November 12, 2012
WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity today applauded the U.S. Department of the Treasury for working with over fifty jurisdictions to establish agreements enabling the bilateral automatic exchange of tax information as part of the implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).
November 9, 2012
WASHINGTON DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) applauded the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today for denying the request (PDF) of industry groups to stay key oil, gas, and mining transparency rules pending a lawsuit.
November 1, 2012
WASHINGTON DC — Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington DC-based research and advocacy organization, urged the Securities and Exchange Commission today to deny the suspension request made by the American Petroleum Institute for recently finalized rules implementing Dodd-Frank Section 1504 transparency requirements for oil, gas, and mining companies.
October 26, 2012
Global Financial Integrity’s new report on illicit financial flows from China showed some of the worst numbers that we’ve ever estimated. Crime, corruption, and tax evasion cost the world’s largest country and second-largest economy $3.79 trillion from 2000-2011. To make matters even darker, illicit capital flight is intensifying. In 2011 alone, China lost over $600 billion –more than any other single country lost over a ten year period when Global Financial Integrity estimated illicit financial flows from 2000-2009.