1 min read

China’s Illicit Financial Flows

China Photo

The International Monetary Fund (“IMF”) indicated that Illicit Financial Flows (“IFFs”) surging from developing economies globally reached a staggering $3.5 trillion USD in 2014. Every year, approximately $1 trillion USD in IFFs leave the developing world to find refuge in developed countries, money laundering and tax havens, or countries with loose anti-money laundering (“AML”) and counter-terrorist financing (“CFT”) laws and regulations. Where is the majority of IFFs originating from, and where specifically are these illicit funds headed? You may not be that surprised to discover that many are headed to the US! Perhaps what’s even more astounding is that China is spearheading the undertaking, with total incoming and outgoing IFFs amounting to approximately $1.1 trillion USD in 2014 and approximately $6.9 trillion USD between 2005 and 2014, comparative to the volume of China’s overall trade during that time.