June 22 – 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. EDT (Washington)
Speakers:
- Oliver Bullough, author, Butler to the World
- U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, member of the Congressional Caucus Against Foreign Corruption and Kleptocracy
- Kevin Hollinrake, U.K. Member of Parliament, and co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking
- Erica Hanichak, Government Affairs Director, FACT Coalition
- Susan Hawley, Executive Director, Spotlight on Corruption (UK)
- Ian Gary, Executive Director, FACT Coalition (moderator)
On the occasion of the U.S. publication of investigative journalist Oliver Bullough’s latest book, Butler to the World: How Britain Helps the World’s Worst People Launder Money, Commit Crimes, and Get Away with Anything, the author joined the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition, alongside legislators and advocates from the U.S. and U.K., to discuss the problems caused by dirty money in the U.K. and U.S. and how to foster transatlantic competition to crack down on dirty money in both jurisdictions.
With last year’s Pandora Papers stories and Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine this year, there is unprecedented attention being paid to how Western economies, including in the U.K. and U.S., provide a safe financial haven for kleptocrats, oligarchs, and criminals. Thankfully, there is also growing momentum for reform. In the U.S., ranked the world’s biggest supplier of financial secrecy, the Treasury Department is implementing reforms to deal with anonymous shell companies and money laundering through real estate. Congress is contemplating new legislation to tackle the “enablers” who assist kleptocrats and criminals to hide their ill-gotten gains. In the U.K., strengthened economic crime legislation is being considered and, last month, an “economic crime manifesto” was launched with cross-party support.