This news out of Kyiv today is just as important as ATACMS but will get far less international attention because it sounds technical and boring.

The parliament just adopted an anti-corruption measure (lifelong PEP status) that meets the last big precondition for EU accession. 🧵

https://twitter.com/G7AmbReformUA/status/1714353636380192790

This reform brings Ukraine in compliance with the @FATFNews standard of making banks closely scrutinize the finances of politically exposed persons or PEPs (i.e., former public officials who could benefit from corruption) for the rest of their lives, rather than just three years.

Even as Ukrainian generals and soldiers fight to expel Russian invaders, a second army of state bureaucrats and civil society experts in Kyiv has been quietly mobilizing to win the peace.

Two new reports from @gmfus, @brdo_ukraine, @IAAUkraine, & @RISE_Ukraine_ map these actors.

As we've spoken to officials planning for a Marshall Plan for Ukraine, we've realized they often don't have a clear picture of all the new government bodies and civil society coalitions that have sprout up in Kyiv to prepare for reconstruction.

That's why we did this research.

Wow! I had heard that this was in the works, but the details are strikingly strong. 💪

Good of the @WhiteHouse for sending the G7 donor coordination platform this list of 25 reforms that Ukraine must implement in order to continue receiving US assistance. news.yahoo.com/white-house-le…






Two of my favorite aspects of this list are how the priorities are sequenced over the next 18 months and how they've prioritized reforms to give the specialized anti-corruption agencies more resources and authorities, with specific line items for SAPO, NABU, NACP, HACC, and ARMA.

NEW REPORT: Ukraine is halfway through a hero’s journey with a dual conflict against Russia and oligarchy.

Ukrainian anti-corruption is vital to the rules-based order. @NormEisen, Cameron Bertron, and I offer 25 ways stakeholders in that order can help. 🧵gmfus.org/news/ukraines-… We start by setting the record straight on Ukrainian anti-corruption.

Here's what the Kremlin and its useful idiots leave out from their narrative about corruption in Ukraine:

Never in history has a nation built such a sweeping array of anti-corruption institutions in a decade.

Over the past 24 hours, I’ve been asked by journalists all over the world whether my research suggests their country might be among the two dozen countries where Russian money has infiltrated politics. Nowhere is this question coming up more than in Italy. reuters.com/world/europe/r… The US intel assessment reportedly names countries included in my research, like Montenegro & Madagascar, plus some new ones, like Albania, Ecuador, & an unnamed Asian country (where the Russian ambassador gave millions in cash to a presidential candidate).washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

Strong move for the USG to disclose this information, showing how the aggressive approach to declassifying Kremlin covert ops—which worked well in the run-up to the war in Ukraine—can be broadly extended to informing voters of assaults on democracy. 👏👏👏washingtonpost.com/politics/us-ru… The intelligence community is right to point to 2014 as the year when the Kremlin dramatically escalated the scope of its financial interference operations.

Putin authorized campaigns against Europe in 2014, the United States in 2016, and Africa in 2018.

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."

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

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. 👏👏👏

https://twitter.com/PowerUSAID/status/1468226290339565574

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.

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.

https://twitter.com/JoshRudes/status/1467860557676097545

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]."

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

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…

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…

Big story about how @MorganStanley and @IBKR are under investigation for handling the suspicious money of corrupt Venezuelan officials.

It's striking how the dirty money hopped from one financial institution to another w/o signs of triggering reporting. 🧵wsj.com/articles/morga… This pattern reminds me of how the dirty money of kleptocrat Teodorin Obiang of Equatorial Guinea played hopscotch across 6 US banks over 4 years, moving to the next bank every time compliance officers caught on.

Below is an excerpt from my recent report: securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/regulating-the…

Ten types of U.S. professionals endanger national security by handling dirty money, such as lawyers, realtors, portfolio managers, and art dealers paid by kleptocrats and oligarchs.

Here's how @USTreasury should prioritize regulating enablers. New Report: securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/regulating-the… This is the first analysis of how @USTreasury should allocate its resources to prioritize the worst enablers.

Five timing factors should inform Treasury’s prioritization:

1⃣ Risk severity
2⃣ Mandatory deadlines
3⃣ Drafting status
4⃣ Regulatory experience
5⃣ Anticipated pushback

Having spent the past week thinking about how to regulate firms offering “black PR” (as in black ops meant to be deniable, like anti-vax disinfo from Moscow), I found this news of “white PR” to advocate for vaccination to be interesting and inspired. 🧵 nytimes.com/2021/08/01/tec… Here’s the case that got me concerned about this influence vector last week. An secret funder in Moscow—whose identify was laundered by a PR front—paid YouTube influencers to spread disinfo that Pfizer vaccines kill, not disclosing the sponsorship. bbc.com/news/blogs-tre…

The US-Germany deal on Nord Stream 2 has solid concessions by Berlin. We can all blame Putin, Schröder, Merkel, and others for this pipeline. By declining to sanction allies now that it's built, Biden leads us to stand together vs Covid, China, and climate.state.gov/joint-statemen… 1⃣ Ukraine gets at least $1 billion for green energy transition on top of other energy support.

Four-point deal on Nord Stream 2:

1️⃣ Germany and the US to invest $50 million in Ukrainian green tech
2️⃣ German support for Three Seas
3️⃣ Ukraine keeps getting $3 billion in annual transit fees from Russia
4️⃣ US can sanction future Russian energy coercion wsj.com/articles/u-s-g… Woulda also liked a kill switch, reverse gas flows from West, extended Ukr-Rus gas deal past 2024, and German/EU commitment to join the snapback sanctions. But diplomacy is about saying “yes” to getting most of what you wanted, particularly when the issue isn’t your #1 priority.

Here are a half-dozen ways Congress can shore up U.S. defenses against Chinese malign finance. 🧵 1⃣ There's a provision in #S1 to broaden the definition of an in-kind political contribution to cover dirt on opponents or polling data (think Russia-2016), but it would not cover requests for investigations into opponents or trade targeted toward swing stages (think China-2020).

NEW: @FSCDems & @RepMikeQuigley released their FY22 approps bill, to be marked up soon.

Includes the $191 million for FinCEN requested by Biden, a 50% boost.

This is great news—would be Congress’s strongest anti-corruption appropriation this year! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 docs.house.gov/meetings/AP/AP… Credit also goes to @RepSpanberger, @RepAnnWagner, @RepMalinowski, @RepAGonzalez, & 34 others who urged appropriators to "significantly increase funding for FinCEN for FY22 ... to cost-effectively combat the illicit financial transactions that [threaten] U.S. national security."

"FinCEN is tasked with building a massive database that collects and secures beneficial ownership information, but Congress has not yet provided any funding to do it."

You tell 'em, @SecYellen! 👏👏👏

https://twitter.com/USTreasury/status/1407762913373396998

Dramatically increasing funding for the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is by far the single most important thing Congress can do this year to fight corruption.