Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) drain resources from development, fueling money laundering, corruption, and economic instability. These - often hidden- financial movements imperil domestic resource mobilization, undermine the rule of law, and are difficult to track and measure. UNCTAD works closely with leading global experts through the Task Force on the Statistical Measurement of IFFs. Recent academic research highlights that IFFs are not only tied to illegal activities but can be embedded in regular economic transactions, including tax avoidance and profit shifting. These practices deepen asymmetries in international finance, erode domestic revenue bases in developing countries, and hinder progress towards sustainable development by diverting critical resources needed for economic and social advancement.
UNCTAD and UN SDG Action Campaign are co-hosting this session to bring together leading academics as well as experts from UN SDG Action Campaign and UNCTAD to discuss the impact of IFFs on economic development and policies to combat IFFs. The seminar will feature three thematic discussions about the role of the asset management sector in the global network of illicit finance, the function of specific enablers in this system and regulatory tools and policies available to developing countries seeking to combat IFFs and secure long-term finance for development.
This special event will be held during the 15th session of the Trade and Development Commission. The views presented by the invited speakers do not necessarily reflect the official position of UNCTAD and UN SDG.
Programme
Opening remarks
- Ms. Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General of UNCTAD (TBC)
- Ms. Luz Ma De La Mora, Director, Division on International Trade and Commodities, UNCTAD
- Ms. Marina Ponti, Global Director, United Nations SDG Action Campaign
- Ms. Anastasia Nesvetailova, Head, Macroeconomic and Development Policies Branch, UNCTAD (Chair)
Session 1: New Risks of Financialization: Perspectives from developing regions
- Chenai Mukumba, Executive Director of the Tax Justice Network Africa.
- The Political Economy of Africa’s links with Asian International Financial Centres
by Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, CERI Sciences Po. - Spiderweb Capitalism: Secret Financial Webs Built by the Ultra-Wealthy
by Kimberly Kay Hoang, University of Chicago - How professional service firms shape development and access to FDIs in Africa and Latin America
by Corentin Cohen, University of Oxford
Session 2: Illicit Financial Flows: State of Play and Policy Directions
- Net Income Resource Transfer
by Penelope Hawkins, Head, Debt and Development Finance Branch, UNCTAD - Ranking the Illicit World: How International Rankings Can Better Support Global Governance Efforts
by Alexander Cooley, Columbia University - Offshore Experts and State Capture
by Brooke Harrington, Dartmouth College - Identifying and prosecuting 'kleptocratic enterprises': challenges and opportunities
by John Heathershaw, University of Exeter
Session 3: Asset Management and Economic Development
- Tracking IIFs: a statistician’s perspective
by Anu Peltola, Director, UNCTAD Statistics Office - Engaging the Private Sector in the Recovery of Corrupt Assets
by Jason Sharman, University of Cambridge - Who Hides? Identifying Patterns in the Ownership of Expensive Property through Offshore Financial Centers
by Kristin Surak, London School of Economics - New Regulatory Tools in Corporate Arbitrage: Implications for Developing Countries
by Jean-Philippe Robé, Sciences Po Law School
Participation
The Commission is open to all member States of UNCTAD. Specialized agencies, intergovernmental bodies and non-governmental organizations (general and special category) are also eligible to participate as observers.
Registration
Online registration is mandatory for all those wishing to attend the session and is required in order to be included in the list of participants.
Rebeca Grynspan, of Costa Rica, became UNCTAD's eighth Secretary-General on 13 September 2021 and is the first woman to lead the organization.
Prior to her UNCTAD appointment, she was the Ibero-American secretary-general from 2014 to 2021, also the first woman to head the organization. During her mandate, she has coordinated the 22-member Iberoamerican Conference and led four key summits of Heads of State and Government.
In 2010 she was appointed Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and prior to that was UNDP Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Prior to joining the United Nations, Ms. Grynspan served as Vice-President of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998. She was also Minister of Housing, Minister Coordinator of Economic and Social Affairs, and Deputy Minister of Finance. In 2021 she was named Special International Advisor to the newly created Economic and Social Council of Argentina and invited to join as member of the G20 High-Level Independent Panel on Financing the Global Commons for Pandemic Preparedness and Response.
In addition to her experience as a lecturer and advisor to several international organizations, she has been actively involved in key United Nations initiatives, such as the Millennium Project's Task Force on Poverty and Economic Development and the High-level Panel on Financing for Development.
In 2014 and 2015, she was recognized as one of the 50 leading intellectuals of Latin America. And she was recognized as one of the 100 most powerful women in Central America by Forbes magazine.
Ms Grynspan holds a degree in Economics by the University of Costa Rica and a MSc in Economics by the University of Sussex. She has been awarded a Doctorate Honoris Causa by the University of Salamanca, the University of Extremadura and the European University of Madrid in recognition of her outstanding professional achievements.
Luz Maria de la Mora is the Director of UNCTAD's Division on International Trade and Commodities. As a former Vice-Minister for International Trade and decades of government and private sector positions, Ms. de la Mora developed a career in international trade policy, negotiation, operations, and trade promotion.
During her tenure as Vice-Minister for International Trade of Mexico from 2018 to 2022, Ms. de la Mora led Mexico's trade and investment policy, overseeing fourteen free trade agreements with 51 countries. To bolster Mexico's development, she steered discussions in the World Trade Organization, the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement, Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, and Pacific Alliance, among others. She also coordinated policy dialogues and handled private sector consultations.
Ms. de la Mora holds a PhD in Political Science from Yale University, USA, a Master's degree in International Affairs from Carleton University, Canada, and a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from El Colegio de México, Mexico.
She is fluent in English and Spanish, and proficient in French.
Anastasia Nesvetailova is Head of the Macroeconomic and Development Policies Branch of UNCTAD (Geneva), where she leads the team responsible for the flagship Trade and Development Report.
Prior to this position she had been Professor of International Political Economy at City, University of London.
Anastasia’s main research focuses on the global financial system. She has published widely on issues of financial crises and regulation, including three monographs (Fragile Finance: Debt, Speculation and Crisis in the Age of Global Credit , 2007; Financial Alchemy in Crisis: The End of Liquidity Illusion, 2010; and Sabotage: The Business of Finance, 2020, with Ronen Palan), as well as numerous academic and policy articles on finance, crises, and financial governance.
Penelope Hawkins is the acting head of the Debt and Development Finance Branch at UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Previusly, as founder and managing director of Feasibility (Pty) Ltd, she has undertaken some of the leading research projects in the financial sector in Southern Africa, commissioned by regulators, policymakers, and the private sector.
She researches and engages with member country representatives and the broader civil and academic society on sovereign debt, financing for development, illicit financial flows, and financial inclusion.
She is a published economist, with a Ph.D. in economics from Stirling University, Scotland. She has an M.A. in economics (cum laude) from the University of South Africa and a B.A. in economics (honours), a higher diploma in education (cum laude) and a B.Sc., all from the University of the Witwatersrand.
Anu Peltola is the Director of UNCTAD Statistics, overseeing the statistical work of the UN Trade and Development. She supports countries in measuring Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicators on trade, maritime transport, investment, illicit finance, South-South cooperation, and enterprise sustainability. Anu brings over 25 years of experience in official statistics at both the national and international levels. At UNCTAD, she has been involved in coordinating UN system-wide data efforts with co-leads and partners, particularly on initiatives such as beyond GDP and the cost of SDG transitions. Her team also contributes to the development of new statistics and methodologies and enhancing countries' statistical capacity in measuring trade and development. Examples include a new set of indicators on gender equality in trade and the inclusive growth index. UNCTAD's statistics are released in UNCTAD Data Hub and Data Insights always reflecting the latest data in UNCTADStat and SDG Pulse sharing the latest data-driven analysis.
Before joining UNCTAD, Anu was engaged in preparing Chief Statisticians’ meetings under the Conference of European Statisticians in UNECE and coordinated international efforts to develop guidance for instance on modernising statistical legislation and enhancing the value of official statistics. She established a new joint work stream for climate and statistical communities. Previously, she worked in Statistics Finland serving as Head of Statistics and Head of Development in short-term economic, business and household statistics.
