Financial Transparency Coalition

Krishen Mehta, co-chair of Global Financial Integrity, wrote an Op-Ed in the Dallas Morning News this week.

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.

The U.S. government frequently raises the issue of smuggling of bulk shipments of currency from the U.S. to Mexico as a major economic and security issue, one that demands greater effort by Mexican authorities to detect and deter. However, as a report released this week by Global Financial Integrity reveals, bulk cash smuggling is not the only form of illicit financial transfer taking place in staggering volumes across the U.S. - Mexico border.

Today, Global Financial Integrity launched it’s new report, Mexcio: Illicit Financial Flows, Macroeconomic Imbalances, and the Underground Economy in Washington D.C. and Mexico City. An excerpt from the press release: MEXICO CITY / WASHINGTON, DC – Crime, corruption and tax evasion cost the Mexican economy US$872 billion between 1970 and 2010 according to a new report