The UK will host a major international summit next summer to tackle the flows of dirty money around the world, which are making the UK’s streets less safe

Illicit Finance Summit to Build International Coalition Against Dirty Money
Illicit Finance Summit to Build International Coalition Against Dirty Money

Taking place at Lancaster House in London over two days from 23-24 June, the Illicit Finance Summit will bring together governments, civil society organisations, and private sector representatives, such as major banks, to build an international coalition to tackle flows of dirty money around the world and strengthen the UK’s national security.  

In the UK, dirty money lurks behind drug-related violence and organised immigration crime, allowing criminals to store their profits without trace. Overseas, it fuels international conflict, with illicit gold funding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a civil war in Sudan, and the misuse of crypto-assets enabling sanctions evasion.  

The Summit will focus on strengthening global enforcement efforts to prevent, disrupt and recover dirty money, including through closer collaboration with the private sector. It will forge new agreements to tackle modern methods for moving dirty money, such as laundering in the property sector, misuse of crypto-assets, and trading in illicit gold.    

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: 

The announcement comes ahead of the launch of the Anti-Corruption Strategy tomorrow (Monday 8 December).  

Delivering on the international commitments in the Strategy, the FCDO is providing new funding for investigative journalists and civil society organisations to work together to combat transnational corruption.  

The £3 million package will support Transparency International, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and the Anti-Corruption Data Collective (ACDC) to expose how corrupt and criminal actors amass illicit wealth and exploit the international financial system.  

Last week, the OCCRP revealed the Balkan drug traffickers smuggling cocaine to Europe using shipments of bananas from the family firm of the Ecuadorian president, and earlier this year they exposed large scam networks that extracted more than £200 million from victims in the UK and other countries. 

Previous UK funding has enabled the OCCRP to develop AI tools capable of extracting data from vast stores of documents, unlocking new insights into how dirty money is moved and hidden.