August 13 – The Financial Integrity and Transparency in Sport (FITS) Forum taking place in Geneva September 3-4, has announced a raft of US speakers from both the financial and law enforcement worlds.
Included in the speakers are Leonard McCarthy, Vice President of the World Bank, Jennifer Shasky Calvery, Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network for the United States Treasury, Matthew H King, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Office of International Affairs for the United States Department of Homeland Security, and Jane Lute, Former Deputy Secretary for United States Homeland Security.
If there was any further sign that the US is collectively taking over the financial policing of world sport, this is probably it. It will be an interesting – if somewhat uncomfortable – learning place to see how the US wants it done and, if they are now the de facto enforcers globally, what they will expect.
Other speakers include Mohammed Hanzab, President of the ICSS, Miguel Cardenal, Secretary of State of Sport of Spain, Javier Tebas, President of the Spanish Football League, Nicola Bonucci, Director of Legal Affairs of the OECD, Nic Coward, General Secretary of The Premier League, and Lars-Christer Olsson, President of the Swedish Football League / former CEO of UEFA.
The FITS Forum’s objective is to bring together key stakeholders from across all sectors of the sports industry and is part of a broader initiative by the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) that it has been working on since November 2014.
Known as the FITS Global Project, the initiative will, for the first time, provide a holistic, fact-based analysis on the existing issues facing sport and provide globally-recognised standards for sport, governments and other key stakeholders to implement. Results of the project will be announced in early 2016.
The preliminary forum agenda includes panels on: Good Governance in Sport: Time for Reform; Money-Laundering and Tax Evasion: Risks and Cures for a Clean Sport; Club Ownership: Safeguarding Sport from Criminal Infiltration; Financial Supervision in Sport: So Far So Good?; Sport, Business and Ethics: Worlds Apart?; and Third Party Ownership: Prohibition or Regulation?
Speaking about the need to address financial integrity and transparency in sport, Jennifer Shasky Calvery, Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) for the United States Treasury, said: “Financial integrity and transparency in sport gets to the very heart of FinCEN’s mission to safeguard the financial system from illicit use. While money laundering is often associated with drug trafficking and organized crime, the financial stakes surrounding sport have shown a troubling vulnerability to corruption and abuse by bad actors. But like other threats to our financial system, FinCEN will use all of its authorities to combat such illegal activity.”
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