With Kleptocrats Untouchable, America Goes Big on Another Strategy: Taking Their Stuff Instead (OCCRP)
September 22, 2016Increasing US attention to kleptocracy cases has galvanized other governments. In the 1MDB case, Singapore and Switzerland – both countries with a history of financial secrecy – appear to have worked closely with the US, freezing millions believed to be linked to the scam.
Shruti Shah, vice president of programs and operations at Transparency International in the US, notes the US still offers many dark channels allowing dirty money to move unseen. While it “would be even better… to prevent these assets from being stolen (in the first place),” she said, “we need to do something about intermediaries – bankers, lawyers and the real estate industry.” Read more
Will Congress Get Serious About U.S. Offshoring Loopholes? (Foreign Policy)
September 1, 2016The new Treasury rule requires banks to do yet more due diligence to unmask a company’s true owner at the time an account is set up. Banks will now be required to collect and verify the names of any person who owns more than 25 percent of a corporate entity, along with the identity of one “individual who controls” it.
Critics argue the measure doesn’t go far enough because it doesn’t address existing bank accounts. Shruti Shah, the vice president of programs and operations for the U.S. branch of Transparency International, a global anti-corruption organization, argues that it also conflates the definition of ownership with management. “If nothing, what the Panama Papers proved is that some of these people are mere figureheads,” she said. Read more
Shah & Currinder – Is It a Gift or Is it A Bribe (Huffington Post Blog)
August 24, 2016In its McDonnell v. United States decision, a unanimous Supreme Court affirmed states’ right to regulate ” permissible scope of interactions between state officials and their constituents.” It is not the federal government’s role, according to the Court, to set standards of “good government for local and state officials.”
Gift rules that are riddled with loopholes and exceptions contribute to the perception—and sometimes the reality—of corruption. Whenever individuals, businesses, and organizations give gifts to elected officials, we should ask why. Read more
Shah and Grant: How to steal billions
July 22, 2016We need to take active steps to close the obvious loopholes in the U.S. legal framework and compliance practices, and shore up the international financial system that has allowed brazen money laundering to happen. Read more
TI-USA on BBC Newsday
July 20, 2016TI-USA VP Shruti Shah was on the BBC Newsday on July 20, 2016 with Rico Hizon (Singapore correspondent) talking about the significance of the U.S action with regard to 1MDB and the loopholes in the U.S framework which allow dirty money to come into the U.S
Shah and Currinder: A leader with integrity wouldn’t accept $175,000 in gifts (FCPA Blog)
July 14, 2016In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court vacated former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell’s eleven corruption convictions. The jury that convicted McDonnell was given erroneous instructions, according to the Court. At issue was the question of what constitutes an “official act.” Read more
Co-Written by: Shruti Shah, Vice President, Programs and Operations, TI-USA
Corruption: Moving money out of purgatory (The Financial Times)
July 5, 2016It is difficult enough for law enforcement agencies to successfully bring international graft cases and seize stolen assets. But it is proving just as difficult to return the money to the citizens without it landing back in the hands of the thieves. “When you think about the money that’s stolen it’s like an inverted pyramid,” says Shruti Shah, vice-president of programmes and operations at Transparency International USA. “The top is the money that’s stolen. A smaller percentage is frozen and a minuscule percentage is actually returned. Read more
Gov. McDonnell and the Supremes: Corruption by any other name is still corruption (FCPA Blog)
June 17, 2016The Supreme Court of the United States is currently finalizing its review of former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell’s 2015 conviction, with the Court’s opinion expected at the end of June. Read more
Contributors: Claudia Dumas, Jacqueline deGramont
The Bank Robber (The New Yorker Magazine)
May 23, 2016Money has a tendency to move, and Switzerland is hardly the only tax haven. If it becomes impractical to hide fortunes there, the money could migrate to Singapore, or, for that matter, to America. Shruti Shah, the vice-president of Transparency International U.S.A., recently found that in such states as Delaware and Nevada it is easier to establish an anonymous shell company than it is to obtain a library card. Read more
Shruti Shah on the U.S. response to the Panama Papers: A step in the right direction but more action is needed. (FCPA Blog)
May 9, 2016The massive leak dubbed the Panama Papers has given the UK Anti-Corruption Summit on May 12 an unexpected boost. Those coming to the summit, now including the U.S., are lining up to make announcements about the steps they are taking to tackle corruption and specifically financial secrecy. Read more