Financial Transparency Coalition

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...

Yesterday Heather Hobson, the jury forewoman in the trial of Viktor Bout, looked the infamous illegal arms dealer in the eyes and announced the jury’s final finding of guilt. Bout, a former Soviet air force pilot, has been nicknamed the “Merchant of Death” for his role in funneling weapons to terrorists, including the Taliban and Al Qaeda; trans-national criminals; and armed combatants locked in some of the world’s bloodiest conflicts. Though Bout has claimed on a Russian radio program that he has “never gotten into the arms trade,” according to European intelligence sources and documents from an African country uncovered...

WASHINGTON – In an effort to catch Mexican drug lords, the federal agency responsible for regulating the gun industry and cracking down on gun crime allowed thousands of weapons to pass into Mexico and fall into the hands of criminals, according to a report by CBS News and other outlets this week.