Tag Archives | featured

Yes, there are legitimate uses of shell companies They still shouldn’t be secret

Thanks to an anonymous provider of data and the incredible work done by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), over the last days the world has gained an unprecedented peek into the global system of secret shell companies. The Panama Papers revelations have forced governments to respond, one national leader to step down, and […]

Read full story Comments { 3 }

Public pressure forces Iceland’s prime minister to step down over Panama Papers

Iceland’s Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson resigned on Tuesday just one day after thousands of people marched in the streets protesting his use of secret bank accounts facilitated by Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm which had as clients Gunnlaugsson and his wife. Iceland was the only country that jailed top financial executives behind bars in […]

Read full story Comments { 1 }

Secret company ownership: a global solution for a global challenge

The way the rich and powerful hide their ill-gotten gains is headline news around the world today. The Panama Papers show everyone how easy it is to set up secret companies that let people avoid taxes and launder money. Kings do it, business tycoons do it, footballers do it, presidents and prime ministers do it.  […]

Read full story Comments { 0 }

Giving people a voice: lessons from measuring corruption

As the world embarks on the ambitious global development agenda known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is important to have accurate measures of progress, or even lack of progress. Otherwise the goals themselves are at risk of becoming illegitimate. To track the goals, we need to have meaningful indicators that reflect what is […]

Read full story Comments { 0 }

Why open data can stop corruption

There has been a big push in recent years to make government data open so citizens know where their tax money is spent– from snow collection in Chicago and broken street lights in Tbilisi, to what public officials declare about their assets in Mexico and their lobbying meetings with companies in the EU. While data […]

Read full story Comments { 0 }

Reporting corruption in Honduras: use our app!

Corruption is a well-known blight on daily lives of Hondurans: from the fear that organized crime brings to daily life to the looting of public funds by corrupt officials or simply the demand for a bribe from a police officer about to give us a ticket. We all suffer in different ways, but that doesn’t […]

Read full story Comments { 0 }

FIFA reforms: beware the small print

On 26 February 2016 FIFA will convene an Extraordinary Congress meeting with just two substantive agenda items: to elect a new president in place of the suspended Sepp Blatter – and to amend the FIFA statutes on governance. Although the former will dominate the headlines, it is the latter that could determine FIFA’s fate. The […]

Read full story Comments { 5 }
Corruption perceptions index 2015 americas

The Americas: How 2015 was a warning to the corrupt

En español View the 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index results We witnessed two remarkable trends in the Americas in 2015: the uncovering of grand corruption networks and the mass mobilisation of citizens against corruption. It’s no surprise that Brazil – which faced its largest-ever corruption scandal around Petrobras – is this year’s biggest index decliner in the Americas, yet […]

Read full story Comments { 10 }
corruption perceptions index 2015 results sub saharan africa

Sub-Saharan Africa: Achieving ‘the Africa we want’ starts with the rule of law

En français View the 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index results Sub-Saharan Africa faced a myriad of threats in 2015, from the Ebola epidemic to rising terrorism. Again and again we saw corruption exacerbate the causes of crises, and undermine the response. This year’s index presents a worrying picture – with 40 of 46 countries showing a […]

Read full story Comments { 7 }
corruption perceptions index 2015 asia pacific

Asia Pacific: How leaders are big on talk but little on action

View the 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index results If there was one common challenge to unite the Asia Pacific region, it would be corruption. From campaign pledges to media coverage to civil society forums, corruption dominates discussion. Yet despite all this talk, there’s little sign of action. Between Australia’s slipping scores and North Korea’s predictably disastrous performance, the 2015 […]

Read full story Comments { 8 }