Eric LeCompte is quoted in US News and hundreds of outlets as the IMF seeks new relationship with the US in the wake of an apparent transition into a Biden Administration. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.

IMF Eyes New Relationship With Biggest Shareholder After Biden Win

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The election of Joe Biden as U.S. president gives the International Monetary Fund a chance to reset its relationship with the United States, its largest shareholder, and make green initiatives a bigger part of its global economic recovery plan.

Eric LeCompte is quoted in the National Catholic Reporter as Pope Francis names 13 new cardinals. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.

Francis Names 13 New Cardinals, Including Washington's Archbishop Gregory

ROME — Pope Francis named 13 new Catholic cardinals Oct. 25, including two Vatican officials; archbishops in Rwanda, the Philippines and Chile; and Washington, D.C. Archbishop Wilton Gregory.

Eric LeCompte, who through his work as the executive director of the Jubilee USA Network came to know Tomasi as they both focused on debt, tax and trade issues at the U.N., praised Francis' choice to name the diplomat and Gregory as cardinals at the same time.

"When we look at appointments and see names like Gregory and Tomasi, we see the Pope's strong commitments to bridge building and promoting the Church's mission to ensure that everyone has enough and can live in dignity," said LeCompte, who is based in Washington.

Read more here. 

Devex featured Eric LeCompte's comments on the recent World Bank Annual Meetings and their push for debt relief. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.

As World Bank pushes others on debt relief, it doesn't participate

WASHINGTON — While the World Bank has been vocal about pushing bilateral and private creditors to take stronger action to provide debt relief, it maintains that it shouldn’t be part of existing debt suspension initiatives.

Even if the World Bank is not participating in debt service suspension, as conversations move ahead about broader debt restructuring or forgiveness, multilateral development banks including the World Bank “need to be part of a debt reduction process like the private sector does,” Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA Network, told Devex.

Read more here. 

The Wall Street Journal featured Eric LeCompte's analysis of Covid-19's effect on global poverty levels and what the international community can do to effectively respond. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.

Coronavirus Deals a Blow to Global Battle Against Poverty

WASHINGTON—After decades of progress against global poverty, world leaders are facing a setback due to the coronavirus pandemic and struggling to come up with a response that matches the scale of the problem.

“The world’s not moving quickly enough,” said Eric LeCompte, the executive director of Jubilee USA Network, a nonprofit that seeks debt forgiveness for the world’s poorest countries. “The reality is that we’ve had a global $12 trillion stimulus and nearly 90% of that stimulus has been spent in wealthy countries…and less than 3% in developing countries,” those with average incomes under about $4,000.

Read more here. 

Washington DC – A high-level United Nations panel report says global policies are needed to prevent trillions of dollars escaping developing countries through tax abuse and corruption. The UN group includes former heads of state, past central bank governors, business leaders and prominent academics.

"As countries combat the health and economic impacts of the coronavirus, they could use the lost revenues from tax avoidance, crime and corruption," stated Eric LeCompte, United Nations finance expert and Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network. "Countries can emerge from the pandemic with resilience and fund public services if we can curb these staggering revenue losses."

The United Nations High-Level Panel on International Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity for Achieving the 2030 Agenda (FACTI Panel), reported that around $1.6 trillion is laundered per year. Due to corporate tax avoidance in the form of profit-shifting, $500 billion is lost to governments each year globally. The UN panel report comes only days after the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists released the “FinCEN files," revealing that global banks moved more than $2 trillion over an 18-year period in suspicious transactions due to a lack of enforcement.

"Hopefully the report is a wake-up call," said LeCompte. "We must move forward global agreements and policies that increase transparency in the financial system."

The FACTI panel will release a final report in February 2021.