Corruption takes many forms. It is the bribe that decides who wins a public contract, the funds diverted from a hospital budget, the official who trades influence for personal gain.
It includes bribery, embezzlement, misappropriation or other diversion of property, trading in influence and abuse of functions.
Financial crime is what allows the illicit proceeds to be concealed, transferred and legitimized, or used to finance criminal and terrorist activities.
Proceeds of corruption, drug trafficking, human trafficking, migrant smuggling, crimes that affect the environment, cyber-enabled fraud and other offences are laundered through sophisticated schemes that conceal their origin, reintegrate them into the legitimate economy and reinvest in criminal activities. Criminal and money-laundering networks exploit vulnerabilities across the global financial system, using financial institutions, professional intermediaries, informal transfer mechanisms, virtual assets and opaque ownership structures. These same mechanisms can be used to finance terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Corruption and financial crime divert public resources, weaken essential services, deepen inequalities and grievances and threaten peace and security. They reduce confidence in institutions and undermine the integrity and stability of financial systems, while fuelling organized crime by enabling criminals to profit, expand operations and exert influence over institutions, markets and governance structures.
Criminal proceeds reinvested through money-laundering can fuel violence, insecurity, drug trafficking and exploitation, while distorting local economies - including housing markets.
UNODC supports Member States in countering corruption and financial crime. We serve as secretariat to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), the world’s only legally binding anti-corruption instrument. UNCAC’s Implementation Review Mechanism continues to identify gaps between the commitments on paper and their effective implementation in practice.
UNODC’s observer status with the Financial Action Task Force and advice to the UN Security Council ensure that we are at the leading edge of policy and operations to deter and counter money-laundering, the financing of terrorism and the financing of nuclear proliferation.
Through these mandates, UNODC works with countries to identify risks and gaps in implementation of their international obligations and to strengthen laws,institutions and capacities to prevent, detect, investigate and prosecute corruption and financial crime. We promote integrity in public and private sectors, support asset recovery, work to reduce illicit financial flows and support efforts to strengthen international cooperation.
Learn more about UNODC’s anti-corruption and financial crime work here.
