OUR GLOBAL MOVEMENT
Transparency International UK is to release a new report on improving the UK’s approach to asset recovery from grand corruption.
"No one should think that they can get away with plundering their countries assets"
UK Prime Minister David Cameron MP speaking to open the Second Arab Forum on Asset Recovery Marrakesh, (25 Oct 2013)
Transparency International UK is to release a new report on improving the UK’s approach to asset recovery from grand corruption. The report looks at the political, legislative and law enforcement environment for asset recovery in the UK, and makes recommendations to help ensure that more corrupt assets are seized, forfeited and returned to the victims of corruption.
This event will explore the key themes arising from the paper and offer the opportunity to discuss how the UK can improve the current system.
The discussion panel will include:
Timing
1730 - Registration
1800 - Presentation of report findings and discussion
Transparency International UK is running a specialised workshop at the thirty-second Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime
Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime will take place at Jesus College Cambridge, UK, from Monday 1st September through Sunday 7th September 2014.
Transparency International UK is running a specialised workshop on Thursday 4th September 2014:
Workshop 16 – 17:30-18:30.
Does the UK need a Corrupt Enrichment Law?
TI-UK believes that there should be no impunity for the corrupt: assets stolen through corruption should be identified, frozen, seized and – with proper safeguards – returned to the rightful owners. Our long-term goal is to ensure that the UK does not act as a safe haven or clearing house for international corruption, through examining the effectiveness of the UK's anti-corruption laws. In December 2013 TI-UK published Closing Down the Safe Havens: Ending Impunity for Corrupt Individuals by Seizing and Recovering their Assets in the UK, and one of the key recommendations was to consider a Corrupt Enrichment Law. A taskforce was subsequently convened which included senior representation from legal profession and law enforcement, as well as academia, civil society and and government. The role of the taskforce has been to examine whether a new law, or new powers are needed against corrupt enrichment, and to develop and draft new legislation if required. Its role has been similar to TI's analysis and preparatory drafting of the Bribery Bill.
This workshop will give insight into the work of the taskforce and is a chance for participants in the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime to give their views.
For further information on the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime, please contact Mrs Angela Futter, Conference Manager: info@crimesymposium.org.
The The 2014 Symposium Programme is available here.
Transparency International UK (TI-UK) and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Anti-Corruption (APPG) will be hosting a screening of From Russia with Cash on Tuesday 3 November, 15.00 – 17.00 followed by a panel discussion and Q&A.
There is growing evidence that UK property has become a safe haven for corrupt money stolen from around the world, facilitated by the laws which enable UK property to be owned by secret offshore companies.
As the corrupt make a house a home for their illicit wealth, particularly in London, ordinary people struggle to rent or buy property and local businesses decline. Money meant for schools and hospitals overseas should not end up in London’s million-pound mansions.
From Russia with Cash shows an undercover journalist posing as a Russian government minister, ‘Boris’, to investigate increasing evidence that London's property boom is being partly fuelled by overseas buyers laundering money.
The investigative documentary, originally aired on Channel 4, highlights how money laundering through London’s property market is facilitated and encouraged, time and time again.
Transparency International UK (TI-UK) and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Anti-Corruption (APPG) will be hosting a screening of From Russia with Cash on Tuesday 3 November, 15.00 - 17.00, followed by a panel discussion and Q&A.
Panel:
Robert Barrington (Executive Director, Transparency International UK)
Chido Dunn (Senior Campaigner, Global Witness)
Mark Hayward (Managing Director, National Association for Estate Agents)
and, Roman Borisovich (“Boris”, From Russia with Cash)
Additional panellists and chair to be confirmed.
When corrupt politicians public officials and business people steal public funds, they prefer to keep those funds in safe places. The UK is one such safe place. These funds laundered in and through the UK represent misery for millions of people around the world. The money has been stolen from health and education budgets, from infrastructure and law enforcement, and many other areas of public spending. This both degrades those services and removes funds that should rightfully be invested in their country of origin.
The funds can be laundered through legitimate businesses property, sporting clubs, gambling, expensive cars, jewellery, art, investing in the stock market, or buying a private education for relatives. The funds can also be held in cash, ready to move at a moment’s notice, or the UK financial and professional services industry can be used as part of a worldwide laundering process designed to hide the money’s origins.
Our report Corruption on Your Doorstep: How Corrupt Capital is used to Buy Property in the UK considered how the UK property market makes a house a home for the cash of the global corrupt.
In October we will be launching a new report which will look into how such Corrupt Capital is laundered through the UK facilitated by financial services, legal services and accountants, and settling in luxury goods markets, art, antiques and auction houses, and private and higher education services.
On 27 October we will be hosting an panel event to discuss the findings of the report and recommendations for moving forward.
