Financial Transparency Coalition

Illicit financial flows are one of the leading, and most under-appreciated, causes of poverty in the developing world. They erode taxes bases, facilitate crime and corruption, and represent a massive transfer of wealth from poor to rich. Financial Transparency Coalition member Global Financial Integrity finds that developing countries lost US$859 billion to illicit flows—defined as cross-border movements of funds that are illegally earned, transferred, or utilized—in 2010 alone. And the estimates are conservative, since they fail to include important sources of illegal money, including cash movements, mispriced services, hawala networks and most transfer mispricing.

This blog post is the third post in a series on the connection between extractive industries and corruption in developing countries. You can read part one here and part two here. In a blog post two weeks ago, I discussed the relationship between extractive industries and corruption, noting that while they are related, the presence of extractive industries alone does not inherently lead to their political exploitation. Rather, it is the effect that these industries have on other economic and political conditions that can drive corruption. Last week, I introduced a few alternative hypotheses that explain the connection between extractive...

Less than a month ago I started working for the Financial Transparency Coalition (FTC) in Brussels. I’m no stranger to the city, having lived and worked here for almost 7 years. In different positions I witnessed the European policy-making process at work. In the European Parliament I helped a Dutch politician with work ranging from co-legislating local public transport to reporting on the progress made by candidate countries wanting to join the European Union (EU). Afterwards I coordinated a network of organizations that aims to make the EU’s consultation and decision-making processes more transparent. In short, I got a...

Towards Transparency: Making the Global Financial System Work for Development, the Financial Transparency Coalition 2013 Conference, will take place in Dar es Salaam on October 1-2. To join in the discussion, or ask questions of the panel, Tweet us using the #Dar2013 hashtag, or follow FTC on Twitter at @FinTrCo. What do human trafficking, the arms trade, rhinoceros poaching, and illegal logging all have in common? All are revenue-generating industries perpetrated by transnational criminals, involving the movement of highly prized illicit goods. Our panel, Trade Crimes: Illicit Financial Flows from Wildlife to Weapons, will examine how money-laundering mechanisms, particular trade-based...