Analysis: Dirty money cleanup gains speed. United Press International. Jan. 29, 2008. Illegal money hurts development efforts in poor countries and may be used to fund terrorism, but new cleanup efforts offer significant hope for curbing dirty money flows. A major step began last summer, when Norway requested that the World Bank conduct a study of illicit financial flows and tax havens, which Norway offered to finance. World Bank President Robert Zoellick subsequently agreed that a study of the development impact of offshore financial centers would be a valuable contribution to the governance and anti-corruption agenda,

Global Financial Integrity Applauds World Bank Study on Illicit Financial Flows. Sept. 17, 2007. Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a program at the Center for International Policy, welcomes the World Bank’s pending study on illicit financial flows out of developing countries and thanks the Norwegian government for its important contributions to this research. GFI has been the leading organization calling for such a study, most recently at a conference titled “Illicit Financial Flows: The Missing Link in Development” held on June 28.

Bringing banks to book. Financial institutions are not going to voluntarily embrace honesty and social responsibility - there is little evidence they do so now. Anyone visiting the websites of banks or browsing through their annual reports will find no shortage of claims of "corporate social responsibility". Yet their practices rarely come anywhere near their claims. In pursuit of higher profits and bumper executive rewards, banks have inflicted both the credit crunch and sub-prime crisis on us. Their sub-prime activities may also be steeped in fraud and mis-selling of mortgage securities. They have developed onshore and offshore structures and practices to engage in insider trading, corruption, sham tax-avoidance transactions and tax evasion. Money laundering is another money-spinner.

Worldwide over $2tn are estimated to be laundered each year. The laundered amounts fund private armies, terrorism, narcotics, smuggling, corruption, tax evasion and criminal activity and generally threaten quality of life. Large amounts of money cannot be laundered without the involvement of accountants, lawyers, financial advisers and banks. ...

...Nigeria's corrupt rulers are estimated to have stolen around £220bn over four decades and channelled them through banks in London, New York, Jersey, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Germany. The Swiss authorities repatriated some of the monies stolen by former dictator General Sani Abacha. A report by the Swiss federal banking commission noted (page 7) that there were instances of serious individual failure or misconduct at some banks. The banks were named as "three banks in the Credit Suisse Group (Credit Suisse, Bank Hofmann AG and Bank Leu AG), Crédit Agricole Indosuez (Suisse) SA, UBP Union Bancaire Privée and MM Warburg Bank (Schweiz) AG".

UK banks are estimated to have processed around $1.3bn of General Abacha's loot. Barclays Bank was said to have handled more than $170m of the general's monies. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) acknowledged that 42 accounts at 23 banks were used and that "15 of the banks had significant control weaknesses", but they were not named. Despite questions in parliament the UK government has failed to name the banks or return the entire loot to Nigeria.

Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act [United States Senate; Sponsored by Senators Carl Levin (D-MI), Norm Coleman (R-MN), and Barack Obama (D-IL].

       Statement of Senator Carl Levin on the Need to End Offshore Secrecy and Tax Abuse. February 21, 2008

Obama: what this man is for. Richard Murphy. "If, as seems increasingly possible, Barack Obama is heading for the White House it’s important to know what this man is for. Take this as a list of things he’s put his name to: ....... And then get worried if you’re in a tax haven. This guy means business. Just read his Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act...."