Illicit Financial Flows: broad interest for this important topic

Illicit financial flows are among the major and often underestimated barriers to sustainable development. They deprive states of urgently needed tax revenues, weaken institutions and fuel corruption as well as organised crime.

 

Together with the Liechtenstein Bankers Association and the Office of Foreign Affairs, we at the Liechtenstein Development Service had the opportunity to invite guests to a specialist event at the Liechtenstein Brewery.

The strong interest and the large number of participants from politics, diplomacy, development cooperation and the private sector clearly showed that this issue matters.

 

In their joint presentation, Gilles Carbonnier and Fritz Brugger focused on the international dimension of illicit financial flows, illustrated by the example of the gold trade in Ghana. They showed how trade manipulation and the systematic undervaluation of gold exports lead to significant tax losses.

 

Another key contribution came from Juhani Grossmann of the Basel Institute on Governance. Under the title “Fighting the internal enemy”, he spoke about anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine in the context of the ongoing war. His central message: Ukraine is not a corrupt country, but a country actively fighting corruption under extremely difficult conditions. 

 

One thing is clear: development cooperation must not focus on symptoms alone. Anyone who genuinely wants to address global inequalities must tackle illicit financial flows systematically.