TY - GEN AB - Commodity trading has come under increasing scrutiny as a conduit for illicit financial flows out of resource-rich developing countries, through trade mispricing and abusive transfer pricing. Assessing whether, and to what extent, commodity trading is subject to trade mispricing is of the essence to measure this phenomenon and evaluate the impact of corrective policies. This paper focuses on the world’s largest commodity trading hub, Switzerland. We will examine existing methodological approaches for estimating trade mispricing associated with commodity trade and analyse the data available in the case of Switzerland. Since commodity trading primarily occurs in transit trade, meaning that the merchandise does not physically enter Switzerland, it is it difficult to trace transactions by Swiss-based trading companies in trade statistics. Additionally, identifying mispricing practices raises several methodological issues. Previous studies have hinted at substantial illicit financial flows from developing countries to Switzerland related to commodity trade, with conservative estimates ranging from $8.5 billion to $15 billion a year. We conclude that the reliability of such estimates is weak and that deeper insight into the actual operations of the commodity trading business is required in order to improve them. AU - Carbonnier, Gilles AU - Zweynert de Cadena, Anne CY - Geneva DA - 2015 DA - 2015 ID - 293828 L1 - https://repository.graduateinstitute.ch/record/293828/files/poldev-2054-commodity-trading-and-illicit-financial-flows_carbonnier_2015.pdf L1 - https://repository.graduateinstitute.ch/record/293828/files/poldev-2054-commodity-trading-and-illicit-financial-flows_carbonnier_2015.pdf?subformat=pdfa L2 - https://repository.graduateinstitute.ch/record/293828/files/poldev-2054-commodity-trading-and-illicit-financial-flows_carbonnier_2015.pdf L2 - https://repository.graduateinstitute.ch/record/293828/files/poldev-2054-commodity-trading-and-illicit-financial-flows_carbonnier_2015.pdf?subformat=pdfa L4 - https://repository.graduateinstitute.ch/record/293828/files/poldev-2054-commodity-trading-and-illicit-financial-flows_carbonnier_2015.pdf L4 - https://repository.graduateinstitute.ch/record/293828/files/poldev-2054-commodity-trading-and-illicit-financial-flows_carbonnier_2015.pdf?subformat=pdfa LK - https://repository.graduateinstitute.ch/record/293828/files/poldev-2054-commodity-trading-and-illicit-financial-flows_carbonnier_2015.pdf LK - https://repository.graduateinstitute.ch/record/293828/files/poldev-2054-commodity-trading-and-illicit-financial-flows_carbonnier_2015.pdf?subformat=pdfa N2 - Commodity trading has come under increasing scrutiny as a conduit for illicit financial flows out of resource-rich developing countries, through trade mispricing and abusive transfer pricing. Assessing whether, and to what extent, commodity trading is subject to trade mispricing is of the essence to measure this phenomenon and evaluate the impact of corrective policies. This paper focuses on the world’s largest commodity trading hub, Switzerland. We will examine existing methodological approaches for estimating trade mispricing associated with commodity trade and analyse the data available in the case of Switzerland. Since commodity trading primarily occurs in transit trade, meaning that the merchandise does not physically enter Switzerland, it is it difficult to trace transactions by Swiss-based trading companies in trade statistics. Additionally, identifying mispricing practices raises several methodological issues. Previous studies have hinted at substantial illicit financial flows from developing countries to Switzerland related to commodity trade, with conservative estimates ranging from $8.5 billion to $15 billion a year. We conclude that the reliability of such estimates is weak and that deeper insight into the actual operations of the commodity trading business is required in order to improve them. PB - The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies PP - Geneva PY - 2015 PY - 2015 T1 - Commodity trading and illicit financial flows TI - Commodity trading and illicit financial flows UR - https://repository.graduateinstitute.ch/record/293828/files/poldev-2054-commodity-trading-and-illicit-financial-flows_carbonnier_2015.pdf UR - https://repository.graduateinstitute.ch/record/293828/files/poldev-2054-commodity-trading-and-illicit-financial-flows_carbonnier_2015.pdf?subformat=pdfa Y1 - 2015 ER -