Money laundering fuels everything from terror finance and sanctions evasion to human trafficking and corruption. However, experts warn that our anti-money laundering efforts are on the brink of failure, as law enforcement only interdicts less than one-half of one percent of the trillions of dollars laundered each year. We need a new approach to addressing money laundering and the dangerous threats to our safety and security from the crimes funded through illicit finance.
To tackle global corruption, the U.S. must start by cleaning up its own house through the reforms discussed in this blog, as well as by working collaboratively with African nations, civil society actors, and professionals to properly stem the root causes and key loopholes that enable capital flight, illicit financial flows, and corrupt or criminal financial abuses.
Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved as part of the must-pass defense spending bill the “ENABLERS” Act. The Act requires certain professional service providers that are best positioned to act as “gatekeepers” to the U.S. financial system to adopt common sense anti-money laundering procedures that can help detect, flag, and prevent the laundering of corrupt and other criminal funds into the United States.
The Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition applauds the House Armed Services Committee for voting today to include the ENABLERS Act in the House version of the annual defense bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (the NDAA).
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.
FACT Testimony to Senate Appropriation’s Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government Emphasizes Need for FinCEN Funding
Today, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo testified before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) to urge increased funding for the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
