Financial Transparency Coalition

This week Global Financial Integrity released their periodic estimate of worldwide illicit financial flows authored by Dev Kar and Sarah Freitas. The report finds the developing world exported an estimated US$859 billion in illicit financial flows in 2010. In case you like moving words, here’s a presentation I put together on what that number means. The GFI model of illicit financial flows includes two components: (1) an estimate of money that exits developing countries via trade channels (called trade mispricing) and (2) an estimate of money that leaves developing countries through other, private capital flows. Traditionally GFI has estimated the...

WASHINGTON, DC – The Chinese economy hemorrhaged US$3.79 trillion in illicit financial outflows from 2000 through 2011, according to a new report released today by Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington, DC-based research and advocacy organization. Amidst increased domestic concern over inequality and corruption, GFI’s study raises serious questions about the stability of the Chinese economy merely two weeks before the once-in-a-decade leadership transition.

This morning, Larry Summers, former U.S. Treasury Secretary under President Clinton and former top economic advisor to President Obama, wrote that European austerity is holding back economic growth, which is making their sovereign debt problem worse, both in individual countries passing austerity budgets and on a continent-wide basis.

Last week, Global Financial Integrity released its annual country-specific report on the drivers and dynamics of illicit financial flows. This year, GFI examined Mexico. GFI defines illicit financial flows as “cross-border movement of money that is illegally earned, transferred, or utilized… the transfer of money earned through illegal activities.” These activities can include corruption, transactions involving contraband goods, criminal activities, and tax evasion.