As fraud and corruption continue to spread globally, illicit and illegitimate finance is one of many areas of concern. To help stop the spread of corruption across fields and industries, further study on the best practices and strategies to combat illicit and illegitimate finance is required. Concepts and Cases of Illicit Finance provides understanding and lessons learned regarding all aspects of illicit and illegitimate finance. Covering key topics such as financial crimes, financial intelligence, and hacking fraud, this premier reference work is ideal for business owners, managers, policymakers, industry professionals, researchers, academicians, scholars, practitioners, instructors, and students.

In today's interconnected world, fraud and corruption threaten the integrity of global financial systems, making illicit and illegitimate finance a pressing concern across industries. Editor Abdul Rafay, an esteemed academic scholar in financial crimes, corporate finance, and financial technology, offers the definitive solution to the Theory and Practice of Illegitimate Finance. This premier reference work comprehensively explores all facets of illicit finance, providing invaluable insights and real-world case studies on financial crimes, money laundering, tax evasion, and fraudulent practices. Through meticulous research and analysis, the book equips business owners, policymakers, researchers, and industry professionals with strategies to combat and prevent illicit finance from infiltrating financial institutions and businesses. As an indispensable resource for academicians and students, Theory and Practice of Illegitimate Finance empowers readers to tackle the complexities of illicit finance. Abdul Rafay's unparalleled expertise, evident from his successful editing of previous books and numerous research papers, enhances the book's credibility. By embracing the transformative journey offered by the book's insights, readers from all walks of life can contribute to a more transparent and accountable financial world, ensuring the integrity of global finance systems and paving the way for a brighter and more secure future.

This book examines the detrimental impact of illicit financial flows on South Africa’s development, political economy, and transformation in the 21st century. Over the years, illicit financial flows have led to the systematic looting and channelling away of South African resources, yet they are rarely studied by researchers looking to explain the country’s underdevelopment and political economy. This book looks across sectors, showing that illicit financial flows cut across all the key pillars of development, frustrating the betterment of peoples’ lives in South Africa. Investigating the problem from a decolonial perspective, the book delves deep into the catastrophic impacts of illicit financial flows for people and the economy, discusses how the problem is being combatted, and ultimately suggests solutions for rebuilding social trust between people and the state. Making an important contribution to the decolonial debate, as well as to discussions of South Africa’s political economy, this book will be of interest to researchers across African studies, global development, political science, law and corruption studies.

Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) have received increased attention in light of international corruption scandals, high-profile leaks about extensive tax abuse schemes, and the continued fight against terrorism financing and organized crime. Reducing IFFs is now a key target of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, renewing debates about both how to operationally define IFF and the methodologies that are used to estimate their extent. This book addresses these key issues, by investigating and schematizing the concept of illicit financial flows and critically evaluating the current models used to estimate them. It book proposes an original flow-network approach through which to produce longitudinal and country-specific estimates of IFFs and the gross value added related to transnational trafficking. It advocates for a reformulation of the current definition of IFFs to one that is more specific and operational, allowing scholars and policy-makers to better clarify the relationship between IFFs, the sources of capital and the channels that are used to move capital abroad. This brief will be an indispensable guide for students of criminology and organized crime, and for the researchers and practitioners working to understand and combat these crimes.

During the last few decades, financially and technologically corrupt practices, such as financial and technological crimes, frauds, forgeries, scandals, and money laundering, have been monitored in many countries around the globe. There is a general lack of awareness regarding these issues among various stakeholders including researchers and practitioners. Concepts, Cases, and Regulations in Financial Fraud and Corruption considers all aspects of financial and technological crimes, frauds, and corruption in individual, organizational, and societal experiences. The book also discusses the emergence and practices of financial crimes, frauds, and corruption during the last century and especially in the current technological advancement. Covering key topics such as financing, ethical leadership, tax evasion, and insider trading, this premier reference source is ideal for computer scientists, business owners, managers, researchers, scholars, academicians, practitioners, instructors, and students.

Sustainable finance is a holistic approach to the sustainability development goals (SDG), so that the interdependence between environmental, social, and governance issues is unveiled. Sustainable finance takes into account the various challenges following from social change and sustainability, the evolution of capital markets, and the development of efficient risk management practices. Governance issues are an integral part of sustainable finance. However, academic literature has generally neglected to consider strategies to prevent and fight financial crimes as a crucial component of sustainable finance. The aim of this book is to focus on the interconnectedness between sustainable finance and preventing/fighting financial crime, not only as a crucial governance issue, but also as a deep challenge for social and even environmental issues. There is no really sustainable finance without developing strong and efficient means to fight financial crimes.

This report is a first step towards building a qualitative understanding of the way illicit or criminal activities interact with the economy, security and development of West African States.

This book provokes fresh ways of thinking about small developing States within the transnational legal order for combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation (TAMLO). From the global wars on drugs and terror to journalistic exposés such as the ‘Paradise’, ‘Panama’ and ‘Pandora’ Papers, the Commonwealth Caribbean has been discursively stigmatised as a mythical island paradise of ‘rogue’ States. Not infrequently, their exercise of regulatory self-determination has been presented as the selling of their economic sovereignty to facilitate shady business deals and illicit finance from high-net-worth individuals, kleptocrats, tax-dodgers, organised crime networks and terrorist financiers. This book challenges conventional wisdom that Commonwealth Caribbean States are among the ‘weakest links’ within the global ecosystem to counter illicit finance. It achieves this by unmasking latent interests, and problematising coercive extraterritorial regulatory and surveillance practices, along the onshore/offshore and Global North/South axes. Interdisciplinary in its outlook, the book will appeal to policymakers, regulatory and supervisory authorities, academics and students concerned with better understanding legal and development policy issues related to risk-based regulatory governance of illicit finance. The book also provides an interesting exposition of substantive legal and policy issues arising from money laundering related to corruption and politically exposed persons, offshore finance, and offshore Internet gambling services.

This publication identifies the main areas of weakness and potential areas for action to combat money-laundering, tax evasion, foreign bribery, and to identify, freeze and return stolen assets.