Andreas was one of the first to warn about \u00a0the direct threat that dirty money posed to democracy. After a successful career at Goldman Sachs, he spent years lobbying and writing and litigating to get tough AML<\/div>\n
laws not only enacted but enforced against giant banks like UBS, \u00a0Credit Suisse, HSBC, Deutsche, Pictet, and Goldman itself. He was one of the most determined champions of tax justice and the rule of law I\u2019ve ever known.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In 2015 Andreas led a team of John Christensen, Ralph Nader, Paul Morjanoff, Bart Naylor, and myself to try and get the US DOL to ban the serially convicted tax felon Credit Suisse from advising US pension funds. We produced a day long hearing in DC that was attended by dozens of bank lobbyist and attorneys. It was eye opening, but we failed \u2014 CS and its lead attorney Chris Wray (now FBI Director since 2017) got a 5 year waiver.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In 2019 they somehow got another waiver. In 2021-22, as Andreas and our team had warned, CS got convicted of another financial fraud, and were finally ejected by DOL. Then their reputation was so damaged that they had to be rescued from bankruptcy by the Swiss Government, which merged them into UBS \u2014 another serial convict.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In Fall 2023, partly guided by Andreas\u2019 wisdom, DOL finally adopted most of the tighter regulations that we had proposed. But the battle with the \u201cbad banks\u201d has continued \u00a0right up to now \u2014 in the EU, the US, and influential posh havens like the UAE and Mauritius and the Isle of Jersey.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Through all this, Mr Andreas Frank never lost hope or determination. Instead he gave it to others. He used to call me every week with a report from the front, good or bad. He was especially insightful about the connection between the return of fascism in Europe and the US, and the role of organized financial crime \u2014a connection that we now see infecting every key democracy. He kept beating this drum until I finally understood how right he was.<\/div>\n
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Now suddenly he is gone. I am devastated.<\/div>\n
But \u00a0Andreas \u00a0would not want us to skip a beat or waste a minute. Especially not in these perilous times, with the wolves at the door and every single precious value we hold dear up for grabs \u2014 once again.\u00a0 If we want to honor Andreas, I know he\u2019d prefer that we just put our heads down and try to keep on organizing for a better world.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Dear Andreas, our brother.\u00a0You live on in our hearts.<\/div>\n
\n
Es tut mir so leid. Ruhe in Frieden.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
James S. Henry, Esq.
\nGlobal Justice Fellow, Yale U.
\n
https:\/\/globaljustice.yale.edu<\/a>
\nMember, NY Bar (1979-)
\nCoop Att., ACLU\/NYCLU
\nSr Advisor, TJN (2005-22)
\nBd, Amnesty USA (2020-21)
\n<\/i>Contrib Ed, Amer Interest (2013-21)
\n<\/i>Poynter Prize (Yale, 2019)
\n<\/i>Edward R. Murrow Fellow (Fletcher, 2010-11)
\n<\/i>Sr Fellow, Col. U Center on Sustainable Invest. (2014-22) <\/i><\/div>\n