Combating Illicit Financial Flow

Fostering Transparency and Combat Money Laundering

Course Overview

The existence of various conventions to eliminate corruption and money laundering indicate consensus for concerted action to tackle corruption, and stem global money laundering and IFFs (illicit financial flows) this training on Training on Combating Illicit Financial Flow offers insights in combating money laundering.

However, the reality is that the tasks involved in combating these threats have become more complex. The minimum that state parties can do is to comply with their obligations, under the watchful monitoring of the citizens to whom they are accountable. At the same time, it is clear that state institutions are unlikely to be able to fully discharge their mandates without the collaboration and assistance of various non-state actors, including organized business.

This intensive training will examine the role of these conventions and what they require of various stakeholders. It will seek to stimulate an analysis of the extent to which the conventions have been domesticated, and are being complied with. Using case studies and empirical evidence, participants will be required to determine the impact that the measures derived from these conventions have had on IFFs.

Learning Objective:

Upon completing this course, participants will:

Gain an understanding of the current definitions of money laundering, illicit financial flows and corruption
Gain insight on the main frameworks in use against money laundering and corruption in African countries
Appreciate the risks, both inherent and emanating from corruption, that impact the effectiveness of strategies against money laundering and corruption
Evaluate the effectiveness, suitability and adaptability of current strategies to reduce illicit financial flows
Recognise the main areas of public administration and law enforcement to pay attention to in monitoring compliance by state parties with UNECA and the AUCPCC
Identify the impediments to the alignment of policies and strategies to stem IFFs from Africa
Be able to evaluate the impact of strategies against corruption and money laundering on IFFs

Who will Benefit

This course is designed for people tasked with developing, maintaining and/or improving policies against money laundering and corruption. The study of IFFs is relatively new in Africa.

The course is intended to stimulate interest in this area, for participants involved in diverse spheres such as taxation, banking, forensic auditing and the regulation of financial intermediaries. Individuals with strategic planning responsibilities in law enforcement will also benefit, as will social activists and researchers.

The following personnel will benefit from the course:

Tax practitioners
Policy makers from national legislatures and government departments
Regulatory professionals
Compliance professionals from financial institutions
Chambers of business
Strategic level law enforcement officers
Forensic auditors
Applied policy researchers
Academics
Post-graduate students
International development partners

Topic Background:

Money laundering and illicit financial flows (IFFs), of which money laundering forms a central element, are universally acknowledged to be serious global threats. Both occur in regional and global terrains that are constantly changing, and often exploit opportunities thrown up by development or created by criminals.

Grand corruption and tax evasion serve as prominent drivers and facilitators of money laundering and IFFs. Cross border outflow of proceeds of economic crime can go in many directions, and are usually more complex to detect, track and recover.

The use of tax havens to facilitate and conceal proceeds of crime and IFFs is a recurrent issue. Successful strategies to combat money laundering and IFFs need to be well informed, dynamic and adaptive.

There have been various international initiatives to stem corruption and the flow of proceeds of corruption and other economic crimes. Key among them is the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), which calls upon state parties to “prevent corruption involving the private sector, enhance accounting and auditing standards in the private sector and, where appropriate, provide effective, proportionate and dissuasive civil, administrative or criminal penalties for failure to comply with such measures.”

UNCAC further urges civil society to create anti-corruption awareness through public information and education programmes that promote transparency, integrity and zero tolerance for corruption. It is complemented by the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC). These instruments seek to align policies and strategies to negate corruption and suppress the laundering of proceeds of corruption, by setting standards by which state parties can be held to account, and fostering the activation of domestic measures and international co-operation against corruption.

Course Outline

Introduction to the Concepts

The various dimensions and scale of money laundering
Corruption
Illicit financial flows and their significance to African economies
Beneficial ownership and abusive transfer pricing
Understanding the current definitions of money laundering, illicit financial flows and corruption
Gain insight on the main frameworks in use against money laundering and corruption in African countries
Appreciate the risks, both inherent and emanating from corruption, that impact the effectiveness of strategies against money laundering and corruption
Evaluate the effectiveness, suitability and adaptability of current strategies to reduce illicit financial flows

Main Regulatory and Enforcement Frameworks

The anti-money laundering framework
The anti-corruption framework
Frameworks against IFFs

Expectations of the International Conventions

UNCAC and AUCPCC
Trends in uptake and domestication

Global harmonization and expectations regarding peer review

Recognize the main areas of public administration and law enforcement to pay attention to in monitoring compliance by state parties with UNECA and the AUCPCC
Identify the impediments to the alignment of policies and strategies to stem IFFs from Africa
Be able to evaluate the impact of strategies against corruption and money laundering on IFFs

Tracking Illicit Financial Flows: The Challenges

Significance of secrecy jurisdictions and abusive transfer pricing
Tax competition in Africa
Illicit trades

Monitoring Mechanisms

Recent results of the monitoring processes
Successes and failures: case studies

Evaluation of Impact

The workshop aimed at sharing experiences and best practices at the inter-regional level on the financing of organised crime and corruption along with discussions and analysis of trafficking routes.