In recent years, the idea that Central Asia is closed off to the rest of the world has been increasingly debunked. Whatever hardships ordinary citizens face – and there are many – the region’s rich and powerful have proven avid consumers of all the benefits, licit and illicit, that globalisation has to offer.
Anonymous shell companies staffed by nominee directors and shareholders, offshore bank accounts in secrecy jurisdictions, asset “protection” services, tax “minimisation” services, private wealth management, estate planning - all this and more is supplied by lawyers, accountants and consultants steeped in western credentials.
This is why a new series of investigations, Power Briefs | Central Asia, is using data science and open source intelligence techniques to track details of transnational ownership that have been otherwise left largely unexplored. In a recent report, Power Briefs examined the serious potential for conflicts of interest as Uzbekistan undergoes rapid privatisation and business reforms.
