A Deeper take on The Costs of Illicit Financial Flows and Proceeds of Corruption

Illicit financial flows (IFFs) strip countries of important resources and pose challenges to the integrity of financial systems, yet efforts to tackle them have been insufficient. Moreover, the known estimates of the magnitude of IFFs, while significant and useful, do not provide a clear picture of the economic impact and costs of these flows for countries. The session will discuss new approaches to understanding and tackling IFFs, with a focus on identifying core risks and channels associated with the underlying financial crimes such as corruption and tax evasion, and the specific role of countries, including large financial centers, that facilitate and shelter illicit financial flows.