From Secrecy to Scrutiny: A New Map of Illicit Global Financial Networks and Regulation
Published:
August, 2024
Authors:
Daniel Haberly
Georgia Garrod
Robert Barrington
This publication focuses on groundbreaking research revealing significant shifts in the pattern of global illicit financial flows (IFFs). The study, led by Dr. Daniel Haberly, reveals how and where different types of illicit money flows around the world.
Based on a detailed analysis of multiple datasets, the research highlights the intricate links between politics, regulation, and the location of secretive shell companies and bank accounts used by a variety of actors to evade US sanctions, and to enable corruption and different types of criminal activities. The findings show a large-scale shift from the UK to a ‘Dubai-Kong axis’ as the central hub in many different types of sanctioned and criminal networks, but also a persistently important role of the UK and its Overseas Territories, and a rising importance of the US, in specific areas.