Financial Transparency Coalition

Last week Coutts, banker to the Queen, was fined £8.75 million for failing to take corruption risk seriously enough. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) found problems with over 70 percent of the client files they reviewed; in some cases, allegations that customers were involved in looting state funds were brushed aside by bankers keen to increase the bank’s profits - and presumably their own bonuses.

WASHINGTON, DC – A forthcoming report from Global Financial Integrity (GFI) finds Syria lost US$23.6 billion to corruption, crime and tax evasion from 2000-2009, writes GFI Economist Sarah Freitas in a new blog post on the website of the Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development (financialtransparency.org).

A forthcoming report by Global Financial Integrity finds that Syria lost US$23.6 billion in illicit financial outflows from 2000-2009 Syria's regime, led by President Bashar al-Asad, is on the ropes. Protests began in January, following uprisings across the Arab world, and have continued despite the regime's efforts to stop them.  These actions, according to Reuters, included having the Syrian Navy shell protesters in the city of Latakia, killing 36. Even after the crackdown, Syrian officials have not succeeded in quelling the protests. In a sign that the regime may be failing, the Financial Times reported that...

WASHINGTON, DC – Yesterday, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Rep. Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA) introduced legislation, which would require that the beneficial owners of corporations and limited liability companies (LLCs) be disclosed at the time companies are formed. Anti-corruption watchdogs, law enforcement groups, and human rights organizations consider the legislation, known as the Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act, a crucial tool in aiding law enforcement and keeping criminal and tax evading money out of the United States.