Stop Illicit Finance

THE ISSUE

When the Malaysian prime minister stole billions from the nation’s development bank, rural communities lost critical access to hospitals and other health care. In oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, the ruling family infamously stole hundreds of millions while their citizens suffered from one of the lowest per capita incomes in Africa. The richest woman in Africa is the daughter of a former Angolan president who plundered his nation’s prosperous mining industry despite high levels of poverty and an infant mortality rate that is among the highest in the world.

While the United States has strong anti-money laundering laws, our large economy, the central role of the U.S. dollar, and gaps in these rules create unparalleled opportunities for bad actors to exploit our financial system. We must end the financial secrecy that protects the corrupt by closing the loopholes that make the U.S. vulnerable to financial exploitation.