Group unveils tool to identify illicit financial flows
TRACKER: A new tool launched by Tax Justice Network is hoped to be the key to identifying money flows in and out of the country – most of which is believed to be illegal.
The Illicit Financial Flows Vulnerability Tracker measures and visualises each country’s vulnerability to various forms of illicit financial flows over different periods of time.
Illicit financial flows are transfers of money from one country to another that are forbidden by law, rules or custom.
The vice has the potential to hurt economies, societies, public finances and governance of countries if left unchecked over a long period of time.
The tax network said a key challenge to tackling illicit financial flows is the difficulty countries face in identifying which financial flows carry the largest risk to their economies.
“The launch of Illicit Financial Flows Vulnerability Tracker will help countries identify the trading partners and channels that pose the greatest risks to their economies,” it said in a statement.
Noxious status
Developed by Thibi and funded by GIZ (German Corporation for International Co-operation), the tracker is expected to help countries like Kenya—that continue to bear the brunt of a noxious status in its financial secrecy rankings—in future fiscal planning.
Kenya’s financial sector is among the most secretive globally, according to a new report by the Tax Justice Network.
It is also the second most rigid in Africa after Algeria and among the top 30 in the world, according to Financial Secrecy Index of 2020.
