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1. This project was the work of many people over the course of a year, including some who took huge risks and sacrificed a lot. Several were inspired in part by @LUMUMBAJj and hopefully one day their story--like his--will come out. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-07-02/sanctioned-billionaire-dan-gertler-s-haven-a-tiny-congolese-bank?sref=QcYdzgGl
2. Obviously, the bulk of work was piecing together a network of companies. So many unbelievable stories that didn't make the pieces or report. @PPLAAF @Global_Witness @BourdonFattal @margotmollat @wildfranz @GurMegiddo @HShezaf @rfriedman305 @Alanrkatz https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/corruption-and-money-laundering/undermining-sanctions/
3. But we also wanted to tell a story about the impact corruption & US/UN/EU sanctions have had on Congo's financial sector & economy. Sanctioned people have sued banks, threatened violence, cried to the Central Bank governor to unfreeze their $. In some cases they've succeeded.
4. This is a huge risk for the banking sector and is a main reason why all global banks but 1 have stopped providing "correspondent banking" services in $USD to Congo's banks over the last few years.
5. Correspondent banking gives banks access to financial systems where they don't have physical presence. If you're a bank in DRC & need to transfer $USD abroad for a client to pay suppliers, you generally need a relationship with a global bank who will act as your correspondent
6. But when you transfer $USD, you must adhere to US law against money laundering & terrorist financing. Because of sanctions and rampant corruption, Congo is a major red flag. For most global banks it's just not worth the trouble for the small fees you get. US penalties are huge
7. So last year, Congo found itself in a situation where Citibank was the only correspondent bank left, because all the other global banks were "derisking." And even Citi has severely restricted the number of banks it works with.
8. It's become super hard for DRC banks that don't have Citi as a correspondent to do int'l $USD transfers. It can take weeks. There are work-arounds, but they're frowned upon: using the central bank, or a practice called "nesting" in a foreign bank, which Afriland does a bit.
9. Why does this matter? Congo needs to be able to trade in $USD! It imports almost everything. Commodities are priced in USD. >90% of deposits and bank loans in DRC are in USD. Remittances are in USD. The economy would be devastated w/out access to dollars.
10. In sum: Corruption & money laundering isn't just making a few people rich--we've known that for years. It's now threatening to cut off Congo from the global financial system, and those people don't seem to care.
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