Financial Transparency Coalition

Who really benefits from illicit deforestation?  Who is behind the profits generated by illicit deforestation, and crops like soy and pasture for beef production grown on illicitly deforested land.

Our launch event of the ‘Financial Secrets of the Forests’ on 20 October, 2026, explores these questions.

This session will analyse illicit financial flows in two high-risk sectors, namely in fisheries and forestry sectors where many African states see high levels of IFFs.  This relates in particular to the lack of beneficial ownership information concerning companies in these sectors, or the lack of public information about forestry and fisheries concessions.  In comparison to mineral extractive sectors, there are relatively few initiatives at the moment for forestry and fisheries transparency and accountability.

Including forestry in the EITI is advancing in Cameroon, the national EITI committee has validated this proposition of the inclusion of the sector.  This will also be part of the Finance Law of 2027.  We will discuss with the Ministry of Forests, to prepare the disclosure requirements with them as part of the bill.  Forestry crimes are also money laundering crimes, as environmental crimes are included in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) list of predicate offences for money laundering, but governments very rarely enact on them.

In this panel, moderated by the FTC Executive Director, Matti Kohonen, we have:

• Alfonso Daniels, Financial Transparency Coalition
• Jean Mballa Mballa, Director, CRADEC, Cameroon
• Simone Haysom, Global Initiative -Transnational Organised Crime
• Leonardo Stanley, CEDES, Argentina
• Victor Galaz, Stockholm University, Resilience Centre