Some notes on Elizabeth Warren's new policy outline combating global financial corruption: elizabethwarren.com/plans/internat…
1. This is the most detailed anti-kleptocracy policy outline any candidate has ever released. (Sanders has called for much the same, but not as comprehensively.)
1. This is the most detailed anti-kleptocracy policy outline any candidate has ever released. (Sanders has called for much the same, but not as comprehensively.)
2. Warren's one of the few major candidates—along Sanders and Biden—calling for an end to anonymous shell companies in the U.S.
(Ironically, if/when the ILLICIT CASH Act is passed, it may actually be the Trump administration ending anonymous shell companies in the U.S.)
(Ironically, if/when the ILLICIT CASH Act is passed, it may actually be the Trump administration ending anonymous shell companies in the U.S.)
3. *Awesome* to see Warren calling for data-collection for cross-border financial flows. Treasury already has the authority to create a database with this info (since 2004!), and others (Canada, Australia) already have ones.
More here: gmfus.org/publications/e…
More here: gmfus.org/publications/e…
4. Warren's call to expand the scope of U.S. anti-foreign bribery legislation is *exactly* the right move here: criminalizing bribe-providing *and* bribe-demanding.
The Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA), currently in Congress, would do just that: justsecurity.org/66388/congress…
The Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA), currently in Congress, would do just that: justsecurity.org/66388/congress…
5. Warren's call to increase international cooperation to combat tax evasion is spot-on...
...but FATCA needs a major overhaul. FATCA was a huge reason the U.S. ballooned into a major tax haven in the first place. More here: financialsecrecyindex.com/PDF/USA.pdf
...but FATCA needs a major overhaul. FATCA was a huge reason the U.S. ballooned into a major tax haven in the first place. More here: financialsecrecyindex.com/PDF/USA.pdf
6. *Phenomenal* to see Warren call for a nationwide expansion of real estate transparency/Geographic Targeting Orders.
These have easily been one of the brightest spots of the U.S. anti-kleptocracy regime the past few years. (And one where the U.S. has actually taken the lead!)
These have easily been one of the brightest spots of the U.S. anti-kleptocracy regime the past few years. (And one where the U.S. has actually taken the lead!)
7. Warren says she'll "clamp down on dark money enablers," and I nearly stood up and started clapping.
The lawyers, company formation agents, accountants, realtors—the ones profiting from the U.S. transformation into a global kleptocratic hub—escape far too much scrutiny.
The lawyers, company formation agents, accountants, realtors—the ones profiting from the U.S. transformation into a global kleptocratic hub—escape far too much scrutiny.
8. Also: expanding anti-money laundering requirements to hedge funds and private equity firms! Congress has called on Treasury to do just that for nearly *twenty years,* and still nothing.
More here: the-american-interest.com/2019/08/08/clo…
More here: the-american-interest.com/2019/08/08/clo…
There's plenty more in the platform. (And there could still be more, such as ending anonymous perpetual trusts in states like South Dakota.)
But this is a remarkable document. Fingers crossed it'll inject anti-kleptocracy proposals into more national debate—and be enacted.
But this is a remarkable document. Fingers crossed it'll inject anti-kleptocracy proposals into more national debate—and be enacted.
One other add: These anti-kleptocracy proposals don't have to come from the executive branch to be successful!
There are a slew of bills currently bouncing around Congress that would put a *huge* dent in the U.S.'s role as a global hub for kleptocracy: justsecurity.org/66388/congress…
There are a slew of bills currently bouncing around Congress that would put a *huge* dent in the U.S.'s role as a global hub for kleptocracy: justsecurity.org/66388/congress…
For more on how the U.S. transformed into a global offshore finance haven, here’s my report from two years ago: hudson.org/research/13981…
*whispers* ending anonymous shell company formation in the U.S. is the biggest single step Washington could take in rolling back the rise of kleptocratic authoritarianism
