Our letter to the new Foreign Secretary: Maintain the strategic priority given to countering illicit finance within UK foreign policy

11th September 2025

The Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP 
Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs

Dear Foreign Secretary,

We write to you as a coalition of the UK and the world’s leading experts on tackling illicit finance, to congratulate you on your appointment and to urge continuity in the vital work of the Foreign Office on combatting illicit finance.

Tackling illicit finance helps deliver the bedrock of the government's agenda: economic stability across the nation, secure UK borders, and resilience to future threats.

Criminal and corrupt money flows destabilise countries, fuel organised crime, and create vulnerabilities that hostile states exploit to undermine the UK’s democracy and allies. Public resources continue to be drained from low-income countries and siphoned abroad, worsening the impact of declining official development assistance. The use of the UK's financial systems to support the Russian war effort is an international concern.

As Home Secretary, you will have witnessed the domestic impacts of illicit finance and money laundering, whether it is through terrorist-financing or through the financing of organised crime gangs. You can now cut off the supply at the source, building international coalitions and leveraging the global influence of the UK’s financial centre to stop these transnational criminal networks.

Your predecessor the Rt Hon David Lammy made significant progress, launching a campaign against dirty money and deploying fresh sanctions against notorious corrupt officials – positioning the FCDO at the centre of this fight. 

Manifesto commitment: 

The Foreign Office has built considerable international momentum towards delivery of the manifesto commitment to work with allies and international financial centres to tackle corruption and money laundering. Preparations are well advanced for the UK to host an international Summit on Countering Illicit Finance, with detailed planning underway. There is cross-sector support from the UK financial sector and civil society, and international partners have aligned their own plans with UK leadership. 

Call to action

We respectfully request that you:

• Maintain the strategic priority given to countering illicit finance within UK foreign policy;

• Confirm your commitment to the Summit next year; 

• Confirm FCDO commitments within the forthcoming Anti-Corruption Strategy; and

• Continue the collaborative approach that has built such strong cross-sector support on this agenda.

The fight against illicit finance is an opportunity to demonstrate delivery of foreign policy that starts at home. Collaboration between your leadership and the Rt Hon David Lammy’s new position, bringing together foreign policy and international leadership with domestic authority, would create a powerful and comprehensive approach to tackling illicit finance which could be a game-changer for UK economic stability, security, and resilience.

Yours sincerely,

Adrian Lovett, Executive Director, United Kingdom, Middle East & Asia Pacific, ONE
Aidan Larkin, Co-Founder, AssetReality
Alex Jacobs, Executive Director, Joffe Charitable Trust
Alyona Vandysheva, General Director of Transparency International Russia (in exile)
Blair Glencorse, Chief Executive, Accountability Lab
Dan Haberly, Associate Professor, University of Sussex
David Lewis, former Executive Head of the Financial Action Task Force
David Szakonyi and Michael Hornsby, Co-Directors, Anti-Corruption Data Collective
Dawn Alford, Chief Executive, Society of Editors
Duncan Hames, Director of Policy, Transparency International UK
Elizabeth David-Barrett, Director, Centre for the Study of Corruption, University of Sussex
Elspeth Berry, Associate Professor, Nottingham Law School, and founder of the Partnership, LLP and LLC Law Academic Forum
Franz Wild, Editor in Chief, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
Gary Kalman, Executive Director, Transparency International U.S.
Gavin Hayman, Executive Director of the Open Contracting Partnership and Co-Chair of the UK Anti Corruption Coalition
Iain Armstrong, Global Regulatory Affairs Practice Lead, ComplyAdvantage
Ian Gary, Executive Director, FACT Coalition
James Mather, Barrister, Searle Court Chambers
Jamie Drummond, Founder, Sharing Strategies and Co-Founder, ONE Campaign
Jodi Vittori, Founder, Anti-Corruption Advocacy Network (ACAN)
John Cusack, former Chair of the Wolfsberg Group
John Heathershaw, University of Exeter, Principal Investigator, ACE Project
Jonathan Draper, Director of Fraud Solutions, FNA
Matti Kohonen, Executive Director, Financial Transparency Coalition
Mike Haley, Chief Executive, CIFAS
Nate Sibley, Fellow and Director, Kleptocracy Initiative, Hudson Institute
Professor Nic Ryder, Cardiff University
Nick Lewis OBE, Standard Chartered Bank
Dr Nikhil Kalyanpur, London School of Economics
Nina Cresswell, member of UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition
Paul Maassen, Chief of Global Programs, Open Government Partnership
Phil Mason, Independent Expert on Anti Corruption
Professor Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, Sciences Po and University of Oxford
Rupert Skilbeck, Director, REDRESS
Sara Carnegie, Barrister
Sheila Masinde, Executive Director, Transparency International Kenya
Susan Coughtrie, Executive Director, Foreign Policy Centre, and Co-Chair, UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition
Susan Hawley, Executive Director, Spotlight on Corruption and Co-Chair of the UK Anti Corruption Coalition
Thomas Mayne, University of Exeter and former Visiting Fellow, Chatham House
Thom Townsend, Executive Director, Open Ownership
Tom Cardamone, President & CEO, Global Financial Integrity
Tom Keatinge, Director, Centre for Finance and Security at RUSI