UK company transparency: one less place to hide

2 April 2015 in Europe and Central Asia, Politics and government, Private sector

It’s finally happened. UK legislation requiring the true owners of UK companies to be made public, received the final sign off in Parliament last week. Under the new law, UK-registered companies must submit information on their true owners – such as full name and nationality – to Companies House which up until now has not […]

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Give us our daily scandal

26 March 2015 in Access to information, Accountability, Anti-corruption movement, Civil society, Cost of Corruption, Europe and Central Asia, European Union, Impunity, Lobbying, Measurement and Research, Politics and government, Whistleblowing

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’

25 March 2015 in Access to information, Accountability, Anti-corruption movement, Civil society, Cost of Corruption, Education, Health, Human rights, Measurement and Research, People power, Politics and government, Poverty and development, Technology

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

16 March 2015 in Accountability, Aid, Anti-corruption movement, Civil society, Education, Health, Human rights, Measurement and Research, People power, Politics and government, Poverty and development

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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Chile must reform political party financing laws

5 March 2015 in Accountability, Americas, Politics and government

The timing couldn’t be better. The Chilean Congress is debating much-needed changes to the laws governing party political finances just as charges were formally made against two high-profile businesspeople for allegedly using fake receipts to fund Chile’s opposition party, the Independent Democratic Union in 2013. Several other former politicians, public officials and businesspeople have also […]

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El Poder de la Pregunta en El Salvador

2 March 2015 in Miscellaneous

Las leyes de transparencia sirven de poco si no son aplicadas en la práctica. A veces, son necesarias la insistencia y el coraje de ciudadanos y de organizaciones de sociedad civil para que esto ocurra. En el Salvador, el Centro de Apoyo Legal Anticorrupción (ALAC por sus siglas en inglés) de FUNDE, socio de Transparency […]

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The power of a question in El Salvador

2 March 2015 in Access to information, Accountability, ALAC, Americas, Anti-corruption movement, Civil society, People power, Politics and government

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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‘It has become more difficult to be corrupt in China’

23 February 2015 in Access to information, Accountability, Anti-corruption movement, Asia Pacific, Cost of Corruption, Human rights, Impunity, Measurement and Research, Politics and government

In a blog published by the Bertelsmann Transformation Index, China expert Christian Goebel speaks about Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign and how it is helping transform China from collectivist one-party rule to a one-person authoritarian system. In Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), China is among the countries with the largest decline in points, despite a […]

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Secrecy breeds corruption

11 February 2015 in Accountability, Cost of Corruption, Financial Integrity, Private sector

  This week the New York Times is running a series of hard-hitting investigative reports into who is buying luxury apartments in a single skyscraper overlooking Central Park in New York City, called Time Warner Center, and how they are doing it. It has highlighted a dubious bunch of big spenders allegedly enjoying the proceeds […]

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Illicit Financial Flows from Africa: a complex political problem

11 February 2015 in Africa and Middle East, Asset recovery, Civil society, Cost of Corruption, Financial Integrity

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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