"As an important tool in our fight against corruption, tax evasion, terrorist financing and money laundering, we will advance the effective implementation of the international standards on transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons and legal arrangements, including the availability of information in the domestic and crossborder context." - G20 Summit Communiqué, Hamburg, July 8, 2017
The issue was not high profile in Hamburg, the wording was generic, and implementation, as always with such communications, remains highly dependent on interpretation and political will. But, unlike contentious issues on climate change and trade, the global consensus on the need to rein in illicit financial flows now seems well-established. The rapid acceleration of global finance has increased both global and national inequalities, and gravely imperilled the capacity of states in both rich and poor countries to provide for public needs. And there is growing recognition of the need to act.
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