Tag Archives | EU

Integrity Default Alert: EU probes collusion in banking sector

By on 27 March 2013 in Private sector

Reposted from the blog of Transparency International’s EU liaison office in Brussels. Corruption thrives in the dark, dank corners where no-one is looking, and banking is no exception. Who had heard of the LIBOR benchmark until the rate-rigging scandal erupted early last year? Now it is a byword for bad behaviour in banks. This week, [...]

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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 [...]

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Cyprus: a chance to strengthen its fight against money laundering

By on 1 February 2013 in Europe and Central Asia, Financial Markets, Politics and government

The issue of whether or not to bail out 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” [...]

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Corruption Perceptions Index 2012 and the European Financial Crisis

By on 6 December 2012 in Europe and Central Asia, Measurement and Research

Europe’s rankings in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2012 are as diverse as the region itself. Clearly the perceived level of corruption in Greece (94th, the lowest EU state) is entirely different from that of Denmark and Finland, tied with New Zealand in first place. However, the old adage that corruption only occurs in the countries [...]

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Romania: Code of Conduct for Romanian MPs

By on 8 November 2012 in Accountability, Europe and Central Asia, Politics and government

Romania has recently been hit with a series of corruption scandals which have gravely affected the parliament’s image. In September 2012 Transparency International Romania (TI-Ro) with the help of two other NGOs specialized in the field, Pro Democratia and Centre for Legal Resources put forward a proposal for a Code of Conduct in the agenda [...]

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Transparency comes calling on telecoms, banking sectors

By on 4 October 2012 in Accountability, European Union, Politics and government, Private sector

Our recent report on corporate transparency has exposed lamentably low levels of country-by-country reporting across the business spectrum. This means 69 of the world’s biggest companies operate in India, for example, but only two disclose how much money they made there, and not one discloses Indian tax payments on their main corporate website (see the [...]

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Financial Times joins chorus for more transparency at the ECB

By on 25 September 2012 in Europe and Central Asia, European Union

We at TI-EU have been questioning the levels of transparency and accountability at the ECB, as you can see in our op-ed in the EU Observer and our blog post on President Barroso’s address . We are glad to see that those wise old heads at the Financial Times (motto: “without fear or favour”) came to the same conclusion. They, like [...]

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On the frontline against corruption in Europe

By on 20 September 2012 in Europe and Central Asia, European Union, Politics and government

Last Friday, Cobus de Swardt, Managing Director of the global Transparency International Secretariat in Berlin, was visiting Brussels for an interview in the Euronews show “On the Frontline” (OTFL) for a special edition titled “Is there a corruption crisis in Europe?” which aired yesterday. The discussions around this show started already back in August when OTFL [...]

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MEPs help to make the EU 0.0014286% more transparent

By on 17 September 2012 in Europe and Central Asia, European Union

Compared to the EU’s 2011 budget of around 140 billion Euros, 2 million Euros (that’s 0.0014286% of 140 billion Euros) doesn’t sound like much.  However, a fight – which is expected to come to a head this week – between the European Parliament and the European Commission over this relatively small sum of money may [...]

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Brussels waters down Euro-Parliament Code of Conduct

By on 6 September 2012 in Accountability, Europe and Central Asia, European Union, Politics and government

In the European Parliament the issue of codes of conduct is a hot topic at the moment. As one Member of the European Parliament recently stated on facebook, “What my employment was before I was elected, is not of the European Parliament or your business.”  Unfortunately, it seems that some members of the European Parliament (MEPs) [...]

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