Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, all significant jurisdictions that issue convertible reserve currencies have acted decisively to freeze their respective shares of the international reserves of the Bank of Russia. As the costs of Ukraine’s resist [...]
The European Union (EU) had a vigorous early response to Vladimir Putin's aggression in Ukraine, aimed at disrupting Russia's financial system and economy. Ending EU imports of Russian hydrocarbons would be a powerful next step and is an absolute pr [...]
ASD Senior Fellow and illicit finance expert Josh Kirschenbaum joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss strategies the U.S. and European allies could take in imposing additional sanctions on Russia. [...]
As Russia has menaced Ukraine with a buildup of troops in recent weeks—and even after those forces ultimately crossed the border—much media and expert commentary has focused on what the U.S. and EU sanctions response should be, analyzing its effects [...]
Statement of JOSHUA KIRSCHENBAUM Alliance for Securing Democracy, the German Marshall Fund of the United States BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC AND MONETARY AFFAIRS AND THE COMMITTEE ON CIVIL LIBERTIES, JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS Concerning “Anti-Mon [...]
A series of anti–money laundering (AML) supervisory fiascos since 2018 have raised doubts about the integrity of the EU financial system. In July, the European Commission published wide-ranging proposals for reform, including the creation of a new E [...]
In the final year of the Trump administration, the U.S. government issued a flurry of actions related to China, utilizing a diverse basket of economic statecraft tools in furtherance of national security objectives.The Trump administration’s tariffs [...]
Josh Kirschenbaum joined TRACE International's "Bribe, Swindle, or Steal" to discuss investment funds and the gaping loophole they create through which vast sums of money can move with no accountability. [...]
A Truly Historic Achievement Transparency advocates begin 2021 in a jubilant mood, as Congress on New Year’s Day overrode President Trump’s veto to pass the annual defense spending authorization. Included as a part of that law was the Corporate Tran [...]
The European Commission "should act fast to capitalize on the political momentum toward creating a central AML [anti-money laundering] supervisory authority," Senior Fellow Josh Kirschenbaum writes with Nicolas Veron in PIIE. Kirschenbaum and Veron [...]
There is an emerging recognition in Western capitals that Russian strategic economic coercion and malign financial activity threaten to undermine the rule of law, weaken democracy, and meaningfully affect American and European politics. This underst [...]
The joint position paper published by the finance ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands and Spain on November 8 is likely to pave the way for strong European Union legislation, ASD's Josh Kirschenbaum writes with Nicolas Veron [...]
Success in countering illicit financial activity will entail a change in mentality, better information sharing, and closer coordination within governments and across borders, Senior Fellow Joshua Kirschenbaum asserted in a brief for Frivarld, the St [...]
In March, the European Union passed a regulation, the most binding legal instrument at its disposal, to strengthen foreign-investment screening processes throughout the union. The law came into force in April, and member states have until October 20 [...]
Using the analogy of a front and a back door, ASD's Josh Kirschenbaum explains that while the U.S. Government has been assiduous in anti-money-laundering enforcement against banks, it has been lax in its AML enforcement against electronic payments c [...]
This article was originally published as a German Marshall Fund Transatlantic Take on July 26, 2019. In 2014 the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) revealed a staggering Russian money-laundering operation perpetrated through [...]
ASD Senior Fellow for Malign Finance Joshua Kirschenbaum joined Jesper Berg, Director General of the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, and Evika Silina, Parlimentary Secretary to the Prime Minister of Latvia on a panel at the German Marshall F [...]
ASD Senior Fellow Joshua Kirschenbaum and GWU's Jennifer DeNardis discuss the recent Financial Action Task Force evaluation of Russia with the Program on Compliance and Enforcement at the NYU School of Law. "Russia in recent years has been the most [...]
ASD's Joshua Kirschenbaum and the Financial Integrity Network's David Murray highlight the growing risk that opaque foreign investments pose to U.S. national security. "The U.S. has always welcomed foreign capital – much to our economic bene [...]
Awareness of who owns what is critical to national security, and the U.S. government knows far less than you think. Even after Congress outlaws completely anonymous companies, it will still be difficult for the government to understand patterns of [...]
In a new paper, ASD's Joshua Kirschenbaum and the Peterson Institute's Nicolas Veron suggest improvements to the EU's anti-money laundering supervisory structure. Major banks or financial institutions in more than 15 countries in the Europea [...]
ASD's Joshua Kirschenbaum Testifies before the European Parliament Special Committee on Financial Crimes, Tax Evasion and Tax Avoidance [...]
Statement of JOSHUA KIRSCHENBAUM Alliance for Securing Democracy, the German Marshall Fund of the United States BEFORE THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL CRIMES, TAX EVASION AND TAX AVOIDANCE Concerning “Money laundering cases involving Russian ind [...]
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) recently agreed to remove sanctions against Oleg Deripaska’s EN+ Group. As a corollary, it will also remove from the sanctions list Rusal, which is one of the world’s largest alu [...]
Washington Post article highlights ASD and C4ADS' joint investigation into the First Czech-Russian Bank. When French politician Marine Le Pen needed cash for her far-right party, an obscure Russian bank agreed to help. Four years later, the [...]
Main Recommendations Payments: Establish an international payments database and improve the quality of payment instructions Investments: Require private investment funds to maintain AML programs and report their investors and investment positions [...]
From cabinet officials in the Trump administration to the social media platform companies, there has been widespread acknowledgement in the United States that the Russian government and other authoritarian states targeted the midterm elections and w [...]
A series of banking scandals in multiple EU countries has underlined the shortcomings of Europe's anti-money laundering regime. At a recent event hosted by Bruegel, panelists discussed a new proposal sketched in a recent paper by Nicolas Veron and J [...]
ASD's Joshua Kirschenbaum and Peterson Institute's Nicolas Veron outline recommendations for a new European unitary architecture to counter the shortcomings of Europe's anti-money laundering regime. A series of banking scandals in mu [...]
ASD’s Joshua Kirschenbaum joined the Kleptocracy Initiative’s Charles Davidson, Peterson Institute’s Nicolas Veron, Ambassador of the Republic of Latvia Andris Teikmanis, and Head of Latvia’s Financial Intelligence Unit Ilza Znotiņa to discuss Latvi [...]
The Netherlands Public Prosecution Service announced on September 4 that ING Bank, the country’s largest financial institution, had reached a settlement worth the equivalent of $900 million for money laundering violations committed between 20 [...]
The United States is the single largest recipient of foreign investment worldwide. This openness reflects the country’s innovative industries, deep capital markets, and ease of doing business – and it also contributes to making them possible. At the [...]
Introduction In Nicosia, regulators last month imposed a modest fine on a minor bank for technical violations of anti-money laundering rules. In Moscow, the former owner of that Nicosia bank sits in prison for his alleged role in one of the largest [...]
Introduction Latvia’s non-resident banking sector, which caters to clients from Russia and other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), has finally become politically untenable. After years of scandals and massive illicit flows [...]
Trillions of dollars in capital flows into the United States annually, and trillions of dollars in payments are cleared through New York daily. No one knows exactly whom the funds belong to, where they are held, or how they are deployed. No one know [...]
In freezing the assets of seven Russian oligarchs on April 6 under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act and other Russia sanctions authorities, the U.S. government went after individuals with a sizeable economic footprint in th [...]
Estonia’s financial regulator, Finantsinspektsioon, announced on March 26 that the European Central Bank (ECB), acting at Estonia’s request, had revoked the license of Versobank AS, a small Estonian bank catering to clients based in Russia and Ukrai [...]