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.
ILLICIT CASH Act Opens Viable Pathway to Senate Passage
Statement by Gary Kalman, Executive Director of the FACT Coalition
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A bipartisan group of eight U.S. senators on a key Senate committee introduced legislation Thursday to update federal anti-money laundering laws and end the incorporation of anonymous companies in the U.S.
The Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition (FACT Coalition) sent a letter to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary in support of the Combating Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Counterfeiting Act of 2019. The full letter can be read below or downloaded here.
House Committee to Vote on Corporate Transparency Act Tuesday
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A bipartisan group of four U.S. senators unveiled draft legislation to update federal anti-money laundering laws and end the incorporation of anonymous companies in the U.S. on Monday, as House lawmakers prepare to vote on their own bipartisan proposal to address the abuse of anonymous companies on Tuesday.
Titled “Anonymous Companies Help Finance Illicit Commerce and Harm American Businesses and Citizens: A Need for Incorporation Transparency,” this May 2019 report from the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition (FACT Coalition) explains that the trafficking and smuggling of counterfeit and pirated goods is a very profitable illegal activity for many of today’s criminals and illicit networks and that these networks rely on the secrecy provided by anonymous entities to launder their ill-gotten-gains and escape detection.
On Tuesday April 2, FACT’s Executive Director joined a panel discussion hosted by the Harriman Institute at Columbia University. The panel discussed the expansion of anti-corruption enforcement in the U.S., as well as the challenges of researching oligarchs and recent developments in anti-corruption work.
The Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition (FACT Coalition) sent a letter to the House Financial Services Committee in support of the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Rewards Act (H.R. 389). The full letter can be read below or downloaded here.
