05
October 2018
Past Event
Countering Russian Money Laundering: Lessons from Latvia

Countering Russian Money Laundering: Lessons from Latvia

Past Event
Hudson Institute, Washington, D.C. Headquarters
October 05, 2018
05
October 2018
Past Event

1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 400
Washington, DC 20004

Speakers:
Charles Davidson

Former Executive Director, Kleptocracy Initiative

Joshua Kirschenbaum

Joshua Kirschenbaum is a Senior Fellow at German Marshall Fund’s Alliance for Securing Democracy [@joshkirschGMF]

Andris Teikmanis

Andris Teikmanis is Ambassador of the Republic of Latvia to the United States [@teikmanis]

Nicolas Veron

Nicolas Veron is a Senior Fellow at Bruegel and the Peterson Institute for International Economics [@nicolas_veron]

Ilze Znotiņa

Ilza Znotiņa is Head of Latvia’s Financial Intelligence Unit

On October 5, Hudson Institute’s Kleptocracy Initiative hosted Ilze Znotina, Head of Latvia’s Financial Intelligence Unit, for a keynote speech on recent efforts to strengthen her country’s anti-money laundering regime. Her remarks will be followed by an expert panel discussion on safeguarding the European banking system against illicit financial flows from Russia and the former Soviet Union.

A spate of recent investigations across the globe highlights the alarming proliferation of financial corruption. Latvia’s ABLV Bank recently collapsed amid U.S. accusations of facilitating Russian money laundering, sanctions evasion, and bribing public officials. Latvia moved swiftly to address weaknesses in financial sector oversight, but the episode illustrates a wider vulnerability to the corrosive effects of illicit finance within the European banking sector.

In the past month alone, Denmark’s Danske Bank has been placed under investigation after $234 billion in potentially suspicious transactions passed through its tiny Estonian branch; the Netherlands’ ING agreed to pay $900 million for failing to prevent money laundering through its accounts; and Switzerland’s Credit Suisse was formally reprimanded over anti-corruption failures.

The event was co-sponsored by the German Marshall Fund’s Alliance for Securing Democracy.

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