by Kristofer Harrison & Celeste Ward Gventer In September, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism (ICIJ) and Buzzfeed News commenced a series of stories based on a trove of secret documents, apparently leaked from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The documents, according to the ICIJ, show that major banks have “defied money laundering crackdowns by moving staggering sums of illicit cash for shadowy characters and criminal networks that have spread chaos and undermined democracy around the world.” Most of the leaked files are Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), which banks are required to file with FinCEN whenever they notice...well, suspicious...
Additional Features
October 8, 2020
There is a comforting story to be told about the prevalence of crime in the global economy. Since the end of the Cold War, the story goes, the world’s leading nations and [...]
September 1, 2020
I am hemmed in by rules on all sides. The things I can do with my property are controlled by zoning and environmental restrictions. I can’t take my neighbor’s property or beat [...]
September 1, 2020
Today a global infrastructure of offshore accounts, anonymous shell companies, and professional enablers have built a parallel dimension in the world’s financial system. The price of entry to this zone of wealth—a [...]
Summary
A global infrastructure of offshore accounts, anonymous shell companies and professional enablers are fueling a crisis of democracy.
