Financial Transparency Coalition

Vikas Shah speaks to Task Force Director Raymond Baker raising questions about the contributing factors to our failing global economy. Raymond addresses and discusses issues such as government theft, drug trafficking, global wealth, money laundering and the shadow financial system.

In April, 31 South Koreans, including 18 professional baseball players, were indicted for sports gambling and match-fixing. Operating both online and on the field, where players deliberately made mistakes to throw matches, these athletes and “brokers,” members of criminal gangs, earned as much as $4,000 per game. This type of activity is not new to South Korea, as volleyball and soccer leagues faced similar instances earlier this year. However, the recent corruption of baseball, Korea’s national pastime, particularly reflects a larger South Korean problem.

The G8 have just released an ambitious and comprehensive asset recovery action plan as part of the Deauville Partnership with Arab Countries in Transition. It is timely and necessary to reinforce the momentum behind stolen asset recovery processes. The first step by G8 countries was to freeze the accounts of the authoritarian leaders Mubarak, Ben Aliand Gaddafi after their fall from power last year, based on the allegation that the assets held had been illicitly acquired from state coffers. However, there has been too little progress made in returning those assets.

Last weekend the international body that sets global anti-money laundering rules, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), announced its new 8 year mandate. This document sets the international framework for the fight to tackle financial crime.