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Corruption, business, civil society and the G20

It is increasingly recognised that corruption can only be tackled effectively through the joint action of all stakeholders, i.e. the public sector, business and civil society. There is a growing trend to include the private sector in development initiatives to ensure that it becomes part of the solution rather than being part of the problem. […]

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Ireland: Political leaders need to tackle fundamental governance gaps which enable corruption and undermine our economic stability

It is no coincidence that countries suffering most from the European debt crisis also have major problems with corruption. While international indicators suggest that corruption is less pervasive in Ireland than, say, Greece or Spain, its ravaging impact on public finances is just as tangible. Corruption has played a starring role in our home-grown crisis. […]

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Greece: corruption and the crisis

Last month, Greeks went to the polls after two years of ceaseless crisis. After a vote that showed their frustration with the old regime and their desire for change, the question now should be how to tackle the rampant corruption that has driven a wedge between a people and their leaders. One answer is transparency. […]

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Nigerian oil in turmoil

The removal of fuel subsidies in Nigeria has hit the poorest sections of society hardest. Amid huge protests, the government has used corruption and smuggling in the oil industry to justify its actions. There are other ways to tackle oil industry corruption that do not have such unfortunate side effects. 2012 kicked off with the […]

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Europe’s hunger for energy needs an integrity check

Europe’s thirst for energy remains high as regulations in the Eurozone tighten and the focus on energy efficiency grows. At the same time, an energy infrastructure that allows EU countries to quickly shift power to where it is most needed when shortages occur still needs to be built. With this in mind, the drive to […]

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The politics of corruption in India: public goods for private gain

India continues to reel from corruption scams.  First it was telecom licenses that grabbed the headlines, now it is the sale of coal highlighting the corruption at the heart of the Indian government, politics and business. In 2008, the former Telecommunications Minister of the Indian government began to issue cut-rate licenses to mobile telephony companies […]

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After Wal-Mart: What best practices can limit foreign bribery?

In the wake of Wal-Mart’s alleged Mexican bribery scandal, many voices in the business sector are no doubt asking what companies can do to improve their anti-corruption programmes and avoid the increasingly long arm of US law-enforcers who are vigorously pursuing violations of the FCPA. This is just the latest corporate corruption scandal, and they […]

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Truth or consequences? The problem with settlements and the World Bank’s debarment of Alstom units

While the year-long allegations of misconduct against the Alstom Group (ALO) have led to some significant consequences for the company – US$ 9.5 million worth of them – a lot of questions about what happened remain. At the end of February, the World Bank decided to debar two Alstom subsidiaries for three years and agreed […]

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A bribery scheme to win market dominance in Mexico?

Over the weekend, the New York Times alleged that Wal-Mart deliberately hid investigations into bribery practices at the company’s largest foreign subsidiary, Wal-Mart de Mexico. Wal-Mart is Mexico’s largest private sector employer with currently 209,000 employees. Allegedly there is a paper trail that includes hundreds of suspect payments worth more 24 million USD in total. […]

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Who owns what? Trying to clean dirty money in the EU

How do you fancy owning two Bugatti Veyrons, the fastest and priciest street car in the world, with a top speed of 250mph and a cost of €1m a pop? Or how about splashing out €18m on art formally owned by French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent? How about affording all of this on your […]

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