The Biden administration has elevated the fight against global kleptocracy to a foreign-policy priority. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has openly called for the West to tighten the rules and regulations that allow corruption and authoritarian capitalism to thrive while acknowledging much of this transparency must begin at home. With the recent passage of the landmark Corporate Transparency Act—which calls for increased disclosure of the actual owners of shell companies—the United States appears serious not only about tackling foreign kleptocrats abroad but also about cracking down on professionals in the United States who have abetted the laundering of money and reputations on behalf of corrupt foreign officials.
Despite such efforts, a key enabler of kleptocrats has thus far escaped much scrutiny: U.S.-based lawyers. For years, U.S. lawyers have enjoyed protections and exemptions from anti-money laundering and foreign-lobbying rules that allows them to become key figures in the networks that kleptocrats use to launder both their finances and their reputations in the West. Although other U.S. industries like hedge funds and real estate have enjoyed years-long exemptions from basic anti-money laundering regulations, U.S. lawyers don’t even need exemptions—primarily because they’ve never been targeted by legislation aimed at clamping down inflows of tainted money.
