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Peter Low is an international development consultant specialising in the political systems and corporate structures that facilitate transnational illicit financial flows
Short bio
Peter Low is an international development consultant specialising in the political systems and corporate structures that facilitate transnational illicit financial flows. In 2018-19, he authored an extended scoping study on Serious Organised Crime in Panama, commissioned by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and currently serves as a consultant to two anti-corruption pilot initiatives led by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). From January 2020, he will manage a multi-country portfolio of projects on behalf of OpenOwnership – a World Bank and DFID-backed organisation that aims to end anonymous company ownership. Earlier in his career, Peter worked at UCL's Institute of the Americas as part of an academic network researching the impact and effectiveness of human rights trials in Latin America.
Affiliation motivation / research interests
My consultancy work of recent years has involved conducting research in a variety of country contexts on the effectiveness (or otherwise) of anti-corruption and anti-money laundering (AML) policies. Such projects have given me a detailed insight into how illicit financial flows practically manifest themselves, as well as into the shortcomings of political and commercial efforts to tackle them. My interest in becoming a GGI affiliate stems from a desire to complement this empirical research with knowledge of the rigorous and theoretically-informed studies available in the academic literature. My objective in securing the UCL affiliation would be twofold. Firstly, to produce (ideally in collaboration with UCL colleagues) journal articles that draw on the insights gained from my empirical work and, secondly, to bolster my own policy-related research with key findings from the academic studies. The high-level research topics I would be interested in exploring further include: the political dynamics driving and inhibiting pro-transparency reforms in secrecy jurisdictions; the mechanics of how beneficial ownership structures have facilitated illicit financial flows; and the effectiveness of EU directives and FATF recommendations in bringing about improvements in domestic AML regimes.
