PM Imran Khan pitches plan to stop flow of dirty money
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan proposed on Thursday a nine-point action, decide to counter illicit flows of cash from developing countries, revealing that over $7 trillion flowed out of developing countries illegally annually.
PM said that the 26 richest persons within the world owned the maximum amount of wealth as half the world’s population did, while around one billion people – almost 15% of the world’s population – survive in poverty, lacking the income and capabilities to measure with dignity.
“$7 trillion in stolen assets is parked in safe country destinations,” he told a high-level panel on the Financial Accountability, Transparency, and Integrity (FACTI), adding that around $500-600 billion is lost annually in minimization by multinational companies.
The prime minister (PM) said $1 trillion was taken out annually by the white-collar criminals and $20 to 40 billion was within the sort of bribes received by those corrupt white-collar criminals. “This bleeding of the poorer and developing countries must stop,” he added.
Imran, subsequently, proposed a nine-point action decide to stop the flow of trillions of dollars from developing countries. “What is required is to strengthen international cooperation to bring perpetrators of monetary crime to justice. The international community must adopt decisive actions.”
PM Imran Khan proposed
Firstly, the stolen assets of developing countries, including the proceeds of corruption, bribery, and other crimes, must be returned immediately.
Secondly, he said, the authorities in “haven” destinations must impose criminal and financial penalties on their financial institutions, which receive and utilize such money and assets;
Thirdly, the “enablers” of corruption and bribery, like accountants, lawyers, and other intermediaries, must be closely regulated, monitored, and held accountably.
Fourthly, the “beneficial ownership” of foreign companies must be revealed immediately upon inquiry by interested and affected governments.
Fifthly, multinational corporations must not be allowed to resort to “profit shifting” too low tax jurisdictions for avoiding taxation – a worldwide minimum corporate tax could prevent this practice.
Sixthly, revenues from digital transactions should be taxed where the revenues are generated, not elsewhere.
Seventhly, unequal investment treaties should be discarded or revised and a good system for adjudication of investment disputes should be set up.
Eighthly, all official and non-official bodies found out to regulate and monitor illicit financial flows must include all the interested countries.
Lastly, the UN should set up a mechanism to coordinate and supervise the work of the various official and non-official bodies, dealing with illicit financial flows to ensure coherence, consistency, and equity in their work.
During his speech, PM Imran Khan said that the necessity for the developing countries to guard and preserve their precious resources had become even more vital due to the recession triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Unless these steps are taken, the difference between the rich and therefore the poor will continue to grow,” he warned, adding that the developing countries would get impoverished and “what we see of the present migration crisis, this may be dwarfed by what is going to happen within the future if this gulf keeps growing.”
At the outset, he appreciated the initiative by Nigeria and Norway to determine the panel on financial accountability. Mentioning that billions of dollars illicitly effuse of developing countries, he said that his government came with a strong public mandate to urge prevent the risk from Pakistan.
He informed the participants that Pakistan had taken several initiatives domestically, emphasizing that strengthening international cooperation was key to bringing perpetrators of monetary crime to justice. He also welcomed the interim report of the FACTI panel, saying the figures of illicit flows mentioned within the report were staggering.
