Let's hear it for @SecYellen! 👏👏👏

"Corruption…is a form of financial alchemy…transformation of power into illicit money or illicit money into power…bad actors usually need an intermediary: a shell company, real estate transaction, art purchase."

➡️ home.treasury.gov/news/press-rel…
"For this reason, combatting corruption is not just the work of the justice ministries…It is also the work of finance ministries…And we believe that our finance ministry, in particular—@USTreasury—must play a leading role."
"There’s a good argument that, right now, the best place to hide and launder ill-gotten gains is actually the United States."

As @JStein_WaPo correctly clarifies, @SecYellen does NOT mean this as an invitation.
And now that Treasury has worked hard to roll out 188 pages of solid beneficial ownership regs…

…I'm totally here for @SecYellen blaming lax state laws on Andrew Jackson. 👍

Cc @cjcmichel, chronicler of American kleptocracy
I'm also here for her prominent mention of "art purchases."

One of the only reforms I've recommended (left image) that Treasury didn't commit to this week is to reach six conclusions (right image) in its mandated art market study—due by Dec 27—and initiate a rulemaking process.
But the most important line in Yellen's speech is easy to miss: "A lawyer can sign the paperwork" (left image).

It suggests @USTreasury may really be open to the idea of extending anti-money launder rules to cover real estate lawyers, which I've been recommending (right image).
It's far from certain that @USTreasury will take on and win that fight against @ABAesq and @nardotrealtor. It'd be much easier to limit the new rule to @ALTAonline. But the fact that @SecYellen is talking trash about real estate lawyers gives me hope! 👍💪

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More from @JoshRudes

9 Dec
Boom—@POTUS opens the #SummitforDemocracy by unveiling his Initiative for Democratic Renewal—a plan to invest $424mn in a flotilla of 29 funds/programs to support independent media, anticorruption, democratic reformers, free internet, & electoral integrity!whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/…
1⃣ Independent Media

@USAID will:
✅ Give $30mn to @FundFreeMedia
✅ Spend $5mn launching a Media Viability Accelerator
✅ Spent $9mn on a Defamation Defense Fund

@StateDept will:
✅ Dedicate $3.5mn to a Journalism Protection Platform
✅ Engage with the Media Freedom Coalition
2⃣ Anticorruption

@USAID to launch programs w/ $5mn protecting whistleblowers/activists, $16mn on transnational corruption, $12mn on resilient policy, $18mn on rapid response.

@StateDept spends $15mn against safe havens, $7mn on PPPs.

@USTreasury makes real estate transparent.
Read 8 tweets
7 Dec
Boom—@PowerUSAID launches a Grand Challenge to combat transnational corruption!

This is a big global initiative. Over the past decade, ten @USAID Grand Challenges have funded 450 innovations in 60 countries, bringing in new voices to solve monumental development problems. 👏👏👏 Image
This Grand Challenge will work with innovators like those featured at today's launch—@googlecloud, @amazon, @ernkrans, @AnneBeathe_, @BHPFoundation, @Mastercard, @arts4change, @StopFraud, @GI_TOC, @EITIorg—to crowdsource ways to follow the proceeds of corruption around the world. Image
Have an idea for a new tool to detect, track, and disrupt corruption that cuts across borders?

You should participate in the design/co-creation process, host an event, fund a call for innovations, support a prize competition, or provide mentorship to innovators across the globe.
Read 5 tweets
6 Dec
Of the 76 lines of effort announced by the administration today, the single strongest potential move is this one that @TreasuryDepSec just emphasized in his remarks. It's easy to gloss over. A FinCEN advance notice of proposed rulemaking on real estate. But it could be historic.
I recently wrote that "In the modern history of the U.S. Treasury Department, no regulatory decision has done more to let dirty money flow with impunity than the 2002 exemption for real estate professionals [from the anti-money laundering rules enacted after 9/11]."
Today, the White House, FinCEN, and the Treasury Deputy Secretary all made a point of underscoring—at varying levels of detail—that two decades is long enough and so they’re not necessarily limiting their work on real estate transparency to title insurance companies.
Read 5 tweets
6 Dec
BOOM—@WhiteHouse publishes the first-ever US government strategy on countering corruption!

It's two weeks ahead of Biden's 200-day deadline, impressively broad in scope, and powerfully strong in details, setting a fierce tone for the #SummitforDemocracy! whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/…
It's esp. focused on the transnational dimensions and ability to launder the proceeds of corruption (pillar 2⃣ is the most important), but it's a whole-of-government strategy with five pillars:

1⃣ US government
2⃣ Illicit finance
3⃣ Accountability
4⃣ Multilateral
5⃣ Foreign aid
1⃣ Elevating efforts across the US government

This puts @USTreasury, @StateDept, @CommerceGov, @USAID, @TheJusticeDept, and @ODNIgov on the hook to dedicate more resources and stand up coordinating bodies to raise their game on fighting transnational corruption.
Read 17 tweets
4 Dec
Treasury just issued this media advisory on @TreasuryDepSec's speech at 10am Monday, which will unveil Treasury's anti-corruption plans. They're banging the war drum.

The strength of Treasury policies depends a lot on the details, so here's a thread reviewing my recommendations.
Let's start with what @IanTalley and @dnvolz reported last night, which is that in addition to sanctions, Treasury will be taking actions this week to increase the transparency of corporate ownership and close loopholes in the real estate market. wsj.com/articles/u-s-t…
With regards to beneficial ownership, FinCEN is expected to release the rule that they've been drafting most of this year prescribing which entities will have to report their ownership information to Treasury. OIRA completed its final review of the draft rule four days ago (⬇️).
Read 14 tweets
6 Oct
Boom—lawmakers to respond to the #PandoraPapers with landmark bipartisan legislation that would make professional enablers watch out for dirty money! 🧵politico.com/news/2021/10/0…
The ENABLERS Act—to be introduced Friday—would require lawyers, investment advisers, art dealers, realtors, accountants, PR firms, and others to ensure their clients' money isn't of suspicious origin. That's exactly what's recommended by my recent research!securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/regulating-the…
And it makes sense that it's inspired by the #PandoraPapers, because the leaked revelations implicate all these enablers. Here are 4⃣ US-tied examples involving trust administrators, financial advisors, real estate professionals, art dealers, and law firms.icij.org/investigations…
Read 14 tweets

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