Banks and dirty money
Stuart McWilliam, Senior Campaigner on Money Laundering; smcwilliam@globalwitness.org, +44 (0)7711007199
Stuart McWilliam, Senior Campaigner on Money Laundering; smcwilliam@globalwitness.org, +44 (0)7711007199
Corruption is a major problem which has a devastating human cost. In poor countries it kills people and traps millions more in poverty. It also undermines the global economy and threatens national security, affecting all countries.
The largely hidden truth is that banks play an integral role in enabling this. Corrupt officials need somewhere to hide stolen money. Yet while laws and regulations apply in most countries which require banks to do a range of checks to detect the proceeds of the corruption, many banks fail to uphold them. As result they are leaving the door wide open for corrupt people to launder their funds.
Banks and Dirty Money reveals the skewed incentives which lie at the root of this problem. It shows that the best solution is for senior executives to be held personally responsible when banks break the rules, and that without this banks will continue to enable corruption and the harm that results.