TIPS Newsletter | May 2026 – TI: ‘Accelerating Action against Criminal and Corrupt Wealth’

Dear TIPS member,

In May 2026, Transparency International published Recommendations for the upcoming UK Illicit Finance Summit, scheduled to take place in December 2026. The report highlights how persistent systemic loopholes allow criminal and corrupt wealth to be concealed, particularly through real estate, weak cross-border information sharing, and insufficient regulation of professional intermediaries. Focusing on real estate as a key channel for storing illicit wealth, the report identifies three main priorities for reform:

• Property Ownership Transparency: The report calls for ending anonymous real estate ownership through stronger beneficial ownership disclosure, linked land registers, and improved access to ownership data for authorities, journalists, and civil society.

• Cross-Border Property Data Sharing: The summit should establish an international coalition to improve access to cross-border property and beneficial ownership data to enable national authorities to effectively identify illicit transactions.

• Gatekeeper Professions: Clearer regulatory standards for professional service providers such as lawyers, real estate agents, and accountants are needed to address the role of intermediaries in facilitating illicit financial flows. The summit should advocate for limited professional privilege, a clear regulatory framework, enhanced due diligence, stronger centralised oversight and meaningful sanctions.

The report concludes by highlighting the need for international cross-border action credible national commitments, and meaningful civil society participation to ‘accelerate the fight against corruption and criminal wealth’.

Please see below the TIPS Newsletter for May

2026. We look forward to seeing you soon.

 - the TIPS team

---

1. Upcoming Events (register on our Events page)

TIPS | Whistleblowing Investigations in the Age of AI

30 June 2026, 6.30–9.30pm BST, Meta Kings Cross London (Register here)

EFCL | European Fraud Lawyer Conference 12 June 2026, A&O Shearman, London  (Details here)

IBA | 22nd Annual IBA Anti-Corruption Conference 17 - 18 June 2026, London (Register here)

The Institute | Annual Financial Crime Conference  18 June 2026, Eversheds Sutherland, London  (Details here)

EQS Connect London | From Compliance Activity to Compliance Impact

16 July 2026, Meta King’s Cross, London (Register your interest)

---

2. Recent Events

TIPS x TBIJ | Voices for Transparency | 20 May 2026 | London

On 20 May 2026, the TIPS Network hosted a fireside chat with Franz Wild, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ), which explores the themes behind the Voices for Transparency exhibition held at St Katherine's Cree.

The discussion was rich and thought-provoking, exploring the themes behind the exhibition. Attendees then had the opportunity to view the exhibition itself, which powerfully illustrates the human cost of financial secrecy through the stories of individuals affected by corruption, fraud, and abuse enabled by offshore structures and hidden ownership.

We thank Templeton Research for kindly hosting and providing refreshments, and Tom Roberts, for moderating the discussion.

---

3. Jobs Board

Associate Director - Ethics & Compliance, Investigations

McKinsey & Company. Apply here.

Manager, Investigations, Diligence & Compliance  -

Kroll. Apply here.

Financial Crime Analyst, Bank of England, 12-month Fixed Term Contract. Apply here.

---

4. Items of Interest

TI Publications

• Strengthening Public Oversight: Good practices for partnerships between civil society and supreme audit institutions. Read here.

• Getting Political Finance Right: Preventing corruption with UNCAC CoSP Resolution 11/7. Read here.

TI Blogs and News

• Dirty Money: The £5 million question: why Britain's political donation rules are broke. See here.

• SFO secures £10 million penalty against defence firm over failure to prevent bribery. See here.

• Palestine's illicit financial flows: how corruption survives crisis. See here.

Podcasts

• Suspicious Transaction Report Podcasts Episode 20: Is Populism a Business Model? Listen here.

• Kickback: The Global Anti Corruption Podcast. 148. Alanna Markle & Thom Townsend on measuring the impact of Beneficial Ownership Transparency. Listen here.

• FCPA Compliance Report Episode: Report from Compliance Week 2026 on AI Sessions. Listen here.

Other items

• UK Illicit Finance Summits: Postponed to December 2026. See here.

• Press release: Illicit Finance Summit delay should be used to launch bold UK leadership against dirty money. See here.

• At least £325bn of ‘dirty money’ flows through UK each year, says report. See here.

• Credible Deterrence: beefing up enforcement of the UK’s political finance rules. See here.

• Briefing: Making the most of police reform to tackle money laundering, corruption and fraud. See here.

• CJEU upholds access to beneficial ownership data for trust mandates in Italy. See here.

• Voices for Transparency Exhibition. See here.

• Xapian Internship Vacancies: Call for Applications. See here.

• Sanctioning foreign bribery through multijurisdictional resolutions. See here.

• SFO International Economic Crime holds flagship event in London. See here.

---

5. Focus on...

Katherine Stewart

Investigative journalist

Why did you get involved with the TIPS Network?

I appreciate learning from this diverse group of TIPS Network colleagues. Their expertise has enhanced my field of vision as a political journalist.

Please describe your experience as part of the TIPS Network.

TIPS brings together some of the best specialists in the field. I enjoy the networking aspects and the insightful presentations and panels, and find the content useful to my own work in unexpected ways. For example, In my most recent piece for the US publication The New Republic, I cited an exhibit on financial transparency that accompanied a TIPS talk on the same theme.

Connect with Katherine on Bluesky here.