Illicit Financial Flows and Corruption in Asia

Abstract

There is an occassional paper and a final report. The paper examines trends in illicit financial flows (IFFs) across 8 countries in Asia: Kyrgyzstan; Tajikistan; Afghanistan; Pakistan; India; Nepal; Bangladesh; and Myanmar. It shows how IFFs work from and between these countries, as well as how IFFs link to financial centres elsewhere. IFFs are defined as ‘money illegally earned, transferred, or used that crosses borders’. The study provides an assessment of routes, actors and sources of IFFs in and between these Asian countries. The final report is a study of trends and criminal activity across the Asian region focuses on the assessment of illicit financial flows routes, actors and causes. Links between the trafficking of illicit goods and resources, political elites and power structures, as well as the underlying corruption that allows it to take place in Asia, have been researched through literature and locally with relevant stakeholders in order to identify new actions to be developed by national and international donors. Research and on the ground investigation was carried out across 6 months and involved regional and thematic experts working towards joint proposals for future action. The study was developed around a literature review of the current state of affairs in Asia as regards illicit flows and practices followed by a set of workshops with regional authorities and stakeholders as well as back-up phone interviews with other relevant experts and practitioners. This work was funded through the Department for International Development’s Policy Research Fund