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Deutsche Bank settlement: does the punishment fit the crime?

Germany’s biggest bank, Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay a record US$2.5 billion in fines to US and UK authorities after one of its subsidiaries pleaded guilty to wire fraud for its role in manipulating LIBOR. This is more than your everyday bank scandal: LIBOR has an impact on millions of people, if not billions […]

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Georgia: protect the messengers who protect citizens’ rights

In the past year there have been a number of high-profile verbal attacks on the leaders of civil society organisations in Georgia who take issue with some of what the government is doing. Rather than trying to undermine the messengers, the government should listen to the concerns they represent. In January a former prime minister […]

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Following the money: why transparent development finance matters

Different numbers have been floated around for what it would cost globally to end poverty, stop climate change and make sure no one goes hungry. These numbers add up into trillions of dollars. How are we going to keep track of the money to make sure it is not wasted, lost to corruption or mismanaged? […]

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Give us our daily scandal

When Transparency International announces the results of the Corruption Perceptions Index in December and Italy performs badly again, there will always be at least one commentator who feigns surprise. How could it happen? Italy has the same score as Bulgaria and Senegal again? The index must be wrong.’ The writer unquestionably accepts the scores for […]

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Bribery: ‘redesign public services to cut risk’

Paying bribes to access basic services is rife worldwide: our research shows that globally, it affects the lives of more than one in four people. Bribery that takes place between citizens and officials is illegal and bad for society. It’s an unjust cost for taxpayers to bear, denying people their right to access necessities such […]

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Measuring development: why statistics matter

Co-written by Tom Wheeler, Conflict and Security Advisor for Saferworld Last week in New York the United Nations Statistical Commission met to discuss what indicators it can use to measure the new set of development targets that the UN will adopt in September to follow up on the Millennium Development Goals. This is important because […]

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The power of a question in El Salvador

Transparency laws mean nothing if they are not applied, and it sometimes takes brave citizens and active civil society organisations to make sure that they are. In El Salvador, the anti-corruption legal advice centre operated by FUNDE, our chapter in the country, is just over a year-and-a-half old and has already made a name for […]

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Illicit Financial Flows from Africa: a complex political problem

Last month African heads of state meeting in Addis Ababa received and endorsed the report of the High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa, which outlined where corrupt money comes from, where it goes and what needs to be done to stop it so that citizens can enjoy the wealth their countries produce. […]

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Supporting security and development in the Americas

Last week, US vice-president Joe Biden wrote an important article in the New York Times to explain his administration’s plans to channel resources to support security, governance and development in Central America. Biden wrote that in order to sustain economic growth and economic equality in a region plagued by violence, poverty and corruption, you need […]

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Fighting corruption head-on in South-East Asia

When the leaders of the 10 nations that make up the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) meet in Malaysia in April for the 26th ASEAN Summit, they need to be bolder in their approach to combatting corruption. Corruption will hold back investment in the region and stifle growth in both the public and private […]

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