This event has now taken place but you can watch the video recording of it through our Youtube Channel, get to it by clicking the button below

When

Thursday, September 30th from 6pm to 8pm UK time"

Where

Online symposium via Zoom.

Format

There'll be a great line-up of speakers plus ample scope for discussion and debate.

Why you should attend

Speaking in 2016, anti-mafia journalist Roberto Saviano said British financial services made the UK the most corrupt nation, and he went on to provide a well-considered and evidence-based account to justify that statement. In our opinion, that is, or at least should be, a great concern for every right-minded citizen in the UK.

But dirty money isn’t just a UK problem of course, it’s a global issue. In February 2021, the Center for American Progress commented, when publishing the Report that inspired this event that:

Transparency and honest government are the lifeblood of democracy. Trust in democratic institutions depends on the integrity of public servants, who are expected to put the common good before their own interests and faithfully observe the law. When officials violate that duty, democracy is at risk.

No country is immune to corruption. As representatives of three important democratic societies—the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom—we recognize that corruption is an affront to our shared values, one that threatens the resiliency and cohesion of democratic governments around the globe and undermines the relationship between the state and its citizens. For that reason, we welcome the central recommendation of this report that the world’s democracies should work together to increase transparency in the global economy and limit the pernicious influence of corruption, kleptocracy, and illicit finance on democratic institutions.

That sentiment is very much in keeping with the aims, objectives and values of the Transparency Task Force and there can be no doubt that this is a matter of off-the-scale importance.

But what can we do?

Well, we could choose to ignore the problem altogether, or we can try to do something – we can choose to stand up, not stand by. And when the Transparency Task Force tries to do something we go to first principles i.e. our fundamental belief that Justice Louis Brandeis was spot-on, right back in 1914 when he wrote “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the best policeman” in his remarkably insightful and revealing book, “Other People’s Money and How the Bankers Use It.”

So this event is our attempt to do our little bit to shine a light on the terrible problem of the dirty money that is contaminating the world’s financial ecosystem, and we are doing it by bringing together a stellar line-up of speakers who will explain the problem of corruption in our financial system and how we must create a robust investigation and enforcement framework to defeat the crooked and corrupt.

You’ll be hearing from people well worth listening to, people who are happy to share their insights and experiences on a matter of grave importance:

Lord Prem Sikka, Professor of Accounting and Finance at Sheffield University who might just touch on The Sandstorm Report
Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle, the Green Party Peer
Che Sidanius, Global head of Financial Crime & Industry Affairs at Refinitiv
Duncan Hames, Director of Policy at Transparency International

This is a not-to-be missed event that will raise awkward questions and inconvenient truths about the banking sector in the UK and overseas.

For example, consider what this data shows; and what about this data; and this; and this; and of course let’s not forget about this.