REPORT LAUNCH: STOPPING THE KLEPTOCRATS - The Atlantic Council was pleased to host the launch of the report “Stopping the kleptocrats: A strategy for the United States and Europe to address weaponized corruption.” This event featured US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse as a keynote speaker and Minister of Justice of Bulgaria Krum Zarkov in a concluding spotlight conversation.

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the United States and its allies embarked on an unprecedented campaign against the Kremlin and its allies, freezing and seizing assets that they had abroad to place more sanctions pressure on the Kremlin. However, the sheer scale of these assets raised the question of why the transatlantic community was so willing to do business with kleptocrats not only in Russia, but across the world.

This event launched our report, "Stopping the kleptocrats: A strategy for the United States and Europe to address weaponized corruption." The event aimed to highlight the findings of our report on weaponized corruption and regulatory and enforcement weaknesses in the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union against illicit finance. In addition to drawing attention to regulatory and enforcement weakness against illicit finance in those jurisdictions, the panel also discussed the report’s proposal for greater transatlantic coordination on anti-corruption reforms, particularly its call to establish a US-UK-EU Transatlantic Anti-Corruption Coordination Council (TACC).

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 01/24/23