Illicit Financial Flows and Governance : The Importance of Disaggregation
After decades of billion dollar scandals around long-serving dictators removing vast fortunes from their impoverished nations, the broader phenomenon of which this is part has acquired a label: Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs). The term encompasses t...
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| Language: | English en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/538841487847427218/World-development-report-2017-Illicit-financial-flows-and-governance-the-importance-of-disaggregation http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26210 |
| Summary: | After decades of billion dollar scandals
around long-serving dictators removing vast fortunes from
their impoverished nations, the broader phenomenon of which
this is part has acquired a label: Illicit Financial Flows
(IFFs). The term encompasses the international transfer of
moneys generated by bribery, tax evasion and illegal
markets. IFFs have been the object of much attention from
high level bodies such as the G20 and G7. The purpose of
this Note is to develop a better understanding of the
drivers of the phenomenon itself in terms of governance and
also of the governance challenge in trying to reduce IFFs.
It deals with the distribution of power as a factor in both
aspects. The discussion does not examine the drivers or
consequences of the activities that generate most IFFs, such
as bribery and tax evasion. Thus a statement that IFFs from
criminal earnings does not affect development institutions
is not a statement about the adverse effects of a large
criminal sector, which may indeed have very serious economic
and development consequences. The paper deals only briefly
with the contested issues of definition and measurement.
This paper has been relentlessly speculative that reflects
the state of understanding of the IFF phenomenon. For reform
efforts, a good understanding of the governance issues and
the obstacles to aligning the interests and capacities of
the many participants is crucial. |
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