FACT Coalition Report Launch - Dirty Money and the Destruction of the Amazon

Register now for the in-person and online launch of the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition’s new report analyzing the linkages between U.S. financial secrecy and environmental crimes in the Amazon region.

Where: The Open Gov Hub – 1100 13th St. NW, Suite 800, Washington, D.C. 20005 and online via Zoom.

When: October 26, 2023 from 12:00-1:30pm EDT. Lunch will be provided from 11:30am-12:00pm for in-person attendees.

English and Spanish interpretation will be available. The report will also be available in English and Spanish.

Speakers will include:

Jimmy Kirby, Acting Deputy Director, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
Matthew Spivack, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of Terrorist Financing & Financial Crimes, U.S. Treasury Department
Vivian Calderoni, Senior Researcher, Instituto Igarapé (Brazil)
Cesar Ipenza, Professor, Peru’s Universidad del Pacífico
Julio Cusurichi, President of FENAMAD and leader of Peru’s Shipibo-Conibo community, Madre de Dios Region
Susanne Breitkopf, Deputy Director of the Forest Campaign, Environmental Investigation Agency
Ian Gary, Executive Director, FACT Coalition

Updates will be provided to registrants via email, as well as on FACT’s event page. Timely registration for in-person attendees is recommended, as space is limited.

Remote attendees will receive a confirmation email with Zoom login credentials prior to the event.

About the report: Environmental crimes, such as illegal mining and logging, are the third largest type of criminal activity in the world, yielding as much as $281 billion in proceeds every year. There is a pervasive perception that environmental crimes are “low-risk, high-reward” offenses. The Financial Action Task Force as well as experts in the U.S. and Latin America have asserted that there are serious legal, information sharing, and capacity challenges that make it difficult to investigate and prosecute these offenses. Financial secrecy – which environmental criminals use to obscure their identity, facilitate their operations, and launder the proceeds of crime – is no small part of that equation.

The United States, as the world’s largest economy and premier supplier of financial secrecy, has a crucial role to play in denying financial safe haven to criminals that would degrade the Amazon. The FACT Coalition’s 100-plus members, including prominent environmental organizations, advocate for policies to combat the harmful impacts of corrupt financial practices.

FACT’s new report draws on interviews with local and regional activists, indigenous leaders, anti-money laundering experts, and government officials in Peru, Colombia, and the United States to show how financial secrecy contributes to facilitating these crimes. The report will lay out a comprehensive U.S. reform agenda.

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For press inquiries, please contact Ian Gary at igary@thefactcoalition.org. Please reach out to Thomas Georges at tgeorges@thefactcoalition.org with any other questions.

FACT Report Launch: "Dirty Money and the Destruction of the Amazon"