Stephanie Blankenburg of SOAS, London is peaking at the World Bank on issues relating to governance and illicit financial flows. She has said:
There is not an inch of evidence that after 10 years of rule based attacks on corruption, money laundering and illicit flows that there has been any reduction in corruption at all.
Absolutely. Jersey, Cayman, et al claim they are well regulated. As an informal discussion over breakfast of a number of conference attendees agreed — this is a state of ‘constructive non-compliance’ (my term). In other words — all the rules are in place. All the procedures appear to exist. But the participants pay lip service to them — the corruption continues.
Another statement of reality at this conference. So far it’s going well.
Of course — the challenge is building the substantive alternatives. The formal approach has not worked. Now it’s time for effective change. This means policy has to be normative — i.e. moral hunches must inform it — and the resulting policy must be outcome focussed — what in reality is harming development — and what can work to stop that.
So the question is not just ‘how do we put people in prison’ but also ‘how do we make sure that the state has the power and the will to put people in prison’.
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I keep on saying that the problem is being tackled too far downstream for any action to be effective but I get accused of having a closed mind and going on about the same thing all the time!
And There not an inch of evidence to say that regulation against illicit flows has NOT worked either.
“the procedures appear to exist. But the participants pay lip service to them — the corruption continues.”
You have any evidence of this allegation, or you just paying lip service to it.
I have worked for many years in the offshore and onshore industries and have found off shore AML regulations far more stringent and strictly carried out. The proceedurs exist and are carried out to the letter.
Do UK banks even look at providence of funds yet? I’ve transfered large amounts of personal funds back to the UK and never been questioned, but then was when I sent moved it on to the Isle of Mann and requested to show evidence of its origin.