Illicit financial flows top $21 billion in Lebanon

Illegal financial flows in Lebanon are thought to have topped $21 billion, according to a new report

Global Financial Integrity, a Washington-based non-profit, research and advocacy organization, estimated the cumulative illicit financial flows from Lebanon at $21 billion between 2001 and 2010.

 Global Financial Integrity defines IFFs as funds that are illegally earned, transferred or utilized. It includes all unrecorded private financial outflows that drive the accumulation of foreign assets by residents in infringement of applicable national laws and regulatory frameworks.

It calculates IFFs as the sum of two separate components, Gross Excluding Reversals and Hot Money Narrow, as reported by Lebanon This Week, the economic publication of the Byblos Bank Group.