DRM Webinar: Combating illicit financial flows: from standards to operationalisation – what approaches can deliver measurable results?

The discussion will draw in particular on feedback from the SECFIN Africa project and on exchanges between practitioners and researchers.

Illicit financial flows (IFFs) represent a major challenge for developing countries: they weaken domestic resource mobilization, fuel criminal economies, and reduce the fiscal space needed for public policies. Beyond these observations, many stakeholders point to the recurring difficulty of moving from normative frameworks and diagnostic assessments to operational actions capable of producing tangible results.

Efforts to combat IFFs involve a range of levers such as prevention, supervision, financial intelligence, investigations, and asset recovery, which often rely on international cooperation. In practice, reforms frequently face constraints related to capacity, inter-agency coordination, access to data, and cross-border cooperation. Compliance with international anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing standards is essential, but in itself does not guarantee measurable operational progress. 

• To provide an operational understanding of IFFs and their main mechanisms;
• To identify the main actionable approaches and how they can be articulated;
• To discuss reform priorities and sequencing in contexts of limited capacity, particularly for countries under strong compliance pressure;
• To share lessons learned and good practices, and to discuss existing result indicators as well as governance and steering arrangements suited to public action.