Tag Archives | Japan

From CEO to whistleblower

13 June 2014 in Financial Markets, Private sector, Whistleblowing

Shortly after being appointed CEO of the Japan-based company Olympus, Michael Woodford discovered a massive case of fraud within the company. When he tried to raise the alarm internally, calling on board members to explain the exorbitant fees – amounting to hundreds of millions of US dollars – paid to obscure companies, some of them […]

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They took lavish foreign “research” trips: whistleblowing in Japan

12 February 2013 in Whistleblowing

Hello, my name is Aki Wakabayashi from Japan.  I am a journalist, whistleblower and Executive Director of TI Japan. Let me tell you the story about how I blew a whistle on the waste of tax money by public servants in Japan. Before turning to journalism, I spent 10 years working for a government-supported labor […]

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‘Putting in a good word’: the most acceptable form of corruption?

4 February 2013 in Private sector

Have you ever ‘put in a good word’ at your workplace for a family member or friend? Or asked such a favour from your nearest and dearest? And how about ‘mates rates’? Ever been able to get something quicker or cheaper because of a powerful associate? What harm does nepotism and cronyism do? The parents […]

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What the Corruption Perceptions Index means in different languages

29 November 2012 in Africa and Middle East, Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Miscellaneous

We will publish the 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index next Wednesday 5 December. Behind the scores are many different kinds of public sector corruption, all with their own impact on daily life. Our evidence is language. Every language has its own particular expression for abuse of power. Here are a few. In English, we refer to […]

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How can business battle corruption?

12 October 2012 in Private sector

President Barack Obama, speaking to the United Nations General Assembly about the true nature of democracy, mentioned corruption and bribery several times. I was particularly struck by this line: True democracy demands that citizens cannot be thrown in jail because of what they believe, and that businesses can be opened without paying a bribe. Unfortunately, […]

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