Financial Transparency Coalition

As the violence spread, billions of dollars of cartel cash began to seep into the global financial system. But a special investigation by the Observer reveals how the increasingly frantic warnings of one London whistleblower were ignored

In a joint press conference with Salvadoran President Funes last week, President Obama announced that—through the Central American Security Partnership program—$200 million will be provided to fight drug cartels and organized crime in the region.  The President noted that the money will be used to address “the social and economic forces that drive young people towards criminality,” as well as “help strengthen courts, civil society groups and institutions that uphold the rule of law.”  While this is a more comprehensive effort than has been previously seen, the Obama administration’s plan of attack still falls short. Traditional approaches to...

WASHINGTON, DC – Illicit trade in “goods, guns, people, and natural resources” is a $650 billion enterprise, which most negatively impacts the developing world, finds a new report to be released by Global Financial Integrity Tuesday, February 8th. “Transnational Crime in the Developing World,” evaluates the overall size of criminal markets in 12 categories: drugs, humans, wildlife, counterfeit goods and currencies, human organs, small arms, diamonds and other gems, oil, timber, fish, art and cultural property, and gold.

Mexico and Venezuela Lead Region with Most Illicit Outflows The Center for International Policy's (CIP) Global Financial Integrity program (GFI) released a new report this week that estimates the quantity and patterns of illicit financial flows coming out of developing countries. The report, "Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries, 2000-2009," (PDF) finds that approximately $6.5 trillion was removed from the developing world from 2000 through 2008, averaging $725 billion to $810 billion per year. Most notable for Latin America, the new GFI report, authored by Dev Kar and Karly Curcio, places both Mexico...