Future of KYC Compliance | EP 20 - ICIJ’s Will Fitzgibbon: How Investigative Journalism is Contributing to Combat Financial Crime

Investigative journalism has been key to discovering illicit financial flows, tax heavens and the challenges of reforming the international financial infrastructure. Every investigation and every leak brings progress in the search for transparency, it raises the bar for financial institutions, and the pressure against financial crime actors. In today’s episode we are joined by Will Fitzgibbon, a senior reporter with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Will has reported on ICIJ projects, including West Africa Leaks, Paradise Papers and Panama Papers and he also coordinates ICIJ’s partnerships with journalists in Africa and the Middle East. Topics discussed in this episode: - What drew Will to the world of investigative journalism. - Views on the current Russia-Ukraine conflict. - Why stopping and reforming the international financial infrastructure has been a challenge. - How Will sees the role of investigative journalism in the context of financial crime. - Top discoveries from the Pandora Papers. - What has changed for better and for worse since the Pandora Papers. - How financial crime control fines should broaden up to include other actors beyond financial institutions. - What attributes financial criminals look for when they choose jurisdictions. - Why there will always be loopholes in the financial sector that bad actors can exploit. - 3 Pieces of advice for industry professionals.