## EDITOR'S LETTER — Illuminating Dark Corners

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [EDITOR'S LETTER — Illuminating Dark Corners](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2019/september/illuminating-dark-corners-letter.pdf)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2019/september/illuminating-dark-corners-letter.pdf.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2019/september/illuminating-dark-corners-letter.pdf.json)

---

### Theme: Spotlight on clandestine financial activity
- The issue focuses on the “dark web of secret transactions” that enable tax evasion and avoidance, money laundering, illicit financial flows, and corruption.
- Quantified estimates highlighted:
  - Bribes to the tune of $1.5–$2 trillion change hands every year.
  - Tax evasion costs governments more than $3 trillion a year.
- These losses represent funds that could be redirected to health care, education, and infrastructure for millions worldwide.
- Corruption’s broader costs:
  - Distorts incentives.
  - Undermines public trust in institutions.
  - Is described as the root of many economic injustices affecting young men and women.

### Theme: Remedies and institutional responses
- Proposed institutional and policy measures:
  - Put in place accountable institutions.
  - Improve government budget transparency.
  - Exchange financial information across borders.
- Specific tensions and proposals discussed by contributors:
  - Jay Purcell and Ivana Rossi propose ways to resolve the tension between the need for transparency and the right to privacy.
  - Aditi Kumar and Eric Rosenbach argue for closer cooperation among law enforcement, financial institutions, and regulators.

### Theme: Cross-border nature and broader benefits
- Emphasis that hidden transactions are not confined to one nation nor solvable by one nation alone.
- Tackling the problem requires:
  - Strong domestic policies.
  - Cross-border collaboration.
- Expected payoffs beyond financial recovery:
  - Myriad political, economic, and social benefits.
  - Not least, reducing inequality.

### Cover and publication notes
- Cover illustration: John Cuneo’s depiction of the funneling of money to the global economy’s hidden corners.
- Editor-in-chief: GITA BHATT.

*Source: EDITOR'S LETTER, "Illuminating Dark Corners", Finance & Development, September 2019.*

---


_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2019/september/illuminating-dark-corners-letter.pdf_