Around US$2 trillion or up to five percent of the global GDP is laundered around the world every year, while more than US$600 billion remain in the shadow in the trade turnover of the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. This was discussed at the 20th meeting of Prosecutors General of the SCO member states held in Astana. The main purpose of the event is to discuss the situation with cross-border economic crime. This includes not only the shadow economy, but also the legalization of criminal income and the illicit financial flow. The representatives of the supervisory bodies intend to work together to combat such manifestations.
“We will be discussing the issues of organizing cooperation to recover criminal assets from abroad. Currently, the SCO member states account for a fourth of global GDP. Of course, high economic growth is always accompanied by negative processes, such as the underground economy, legalization of criminal proceeds and illegal transfer of assets abroad,” said Berik Assylov, Prosecutor General of Kazakhstan.
