Karen Egger

About Karen Egger

Karen Egger is Senior Programme Manager in Transparency International's Private Sector Team.
Author Archive | Karen Egger

The banks of Cyprus and the pursuit of integrity

By on 20 March 2013 in Europe and Central Asia, European Union, Financial Markets

The bail out of the troubled banking sector in Cyprus has taken on serious political overtones as the crisis deepens. During the past few weeks Cyprus has been accused of failing to combat money laundering and fraud and that Russian oligarchs seek refuge for their money in this “tax haven” country. Now the strongest members [...]

Read full story • Comments { 12 }

HSBC, Panama: “Exit, stage right”

By on 6 March 2013 in Americas, Private sector

The moral relativism that traditionally infects multinationals in hot, corrupt countries is going out of style.”  This is according to Jonathan Guthrie of the Financial Times, in discussing the decision of HSBC to close down its operations in Panama (Corruption Perceptions Index score in 2012: 38 out of 100).  The decision was  purportedly to increase [...]

Read full story • Comments { 4 }

Will billions in fines alone make banks respect the rules?

By on 11 December 2012 in Accountability, Financial Markets

How banks implement international financial sanctions may not strike many as the sexiest news story of the day, but its importance comes alive when one remembers that holding a banking license and taking deposits from the public at large is not a right, but a privilege. It is bestowed on certain companies by the public [...]

Read full story • Comments { 2 }

Better anti-corruption reporting but is it credible?

By on 31 August 2012 in Access to information, Accountability, Private sector

Scandals such as the revelations of banks misleading regulators on LIBOR are further eroding people’s trust in companies. Two in three Europeans, for example, believe that corruption is part of their country’s business culture. One of steps for companies to restore trust is by publicly reporting on their anti-bribery measures. Once a company has done [...]

Read full story • Comments { 1 }

Why investors should care about transparency

By on 28 August 2012 in Access to information, Accountability, Politics and government, Private sector

On July 10, Transparency International issued a report showing that the world’s biggest companies are disclosing more about their measures for preventing corruption, but not so much of their financial data in the countries where they operate. Investors should take note of these findings. Risks associated with corruption can have devastating damaging effects on a [...]

Read full story • Comments { 7 }

The financial sector: a culture of transparency?

By on 10 July 2012 in Accountability, Financial Markets, Private sector

The recent global financial crisis highlighted the need to broaden the discussion about regulation and oversight of the financial system. Transparency and related risk assessments of financial institutions have surged to the top of the agenda. In our study on transparency and disclosure of measures for reducing corruption risk among the world’s largest companies published [...]

Read full story • Comments { 7 }

G20: Tackling tax evasion?

By on 18 June 2012 in G20, Private sector

This week the heads of state from the G20 are meeting in Mexico, where we hope they will take action to meet their 2009 promise to end bank secrecy. One step already taken is making tax evasion a predicate offence for money laundering. What does that mean? Money laundering is defined as taking the proceeds [...]

Read full story • Comments { 1 }