Tag Archives | Portugal

The hard business of easy access

News of the arrest of 11 people, including high-ranking public officials, on suspicions of corruption in the issuing of so-called golden visas rocked Portugal this weekend. Officials stand accused of having taken bribes to supply residency permits to preferred millionaire foreign “investors”, revealing just one of the many problems with “Golden Visa” programmes that must […]

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Efforts to educate players and officials about match-fixing must be increased

Six people were arrested in the United Kingdom this week on suspicion of match-fixing following an undercover sting operation. It’s not yet clear what games were targeted, but one player named is a former Premier League striker, now playing in a lower division. The fixer is alleged to have come from Singapore, the centre of […]

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

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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TI Portugal Summer School: A lesson on integrity

You might have seen Portugal on the news recently. Just over a week ago, an estimated million people (in a country of roughly 10 million) took to the streets protesting new austerity measures announced by Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho. Talk of instability in the governing coalition amid increased public anger damaged the country’s reputation […]

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Corruption without borders

Stories of bribery and its impact around the world, from Greece to Mexico. 39 countries are signed up to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, meaning that they have agreed to investigate and prosecute businesses that use corrupt practices when conducting business abroad. We will publish a new report on Thursday showing a rise in prosecutions by […]

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Dealing in the dark: Portugal’s sad defence contracts

On 06 September, Transparency International releases its annual report on enforcement of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention. Right at the time the European Union is consumed with the debate over the debt crisis and politicians across the EU are busy playing the blame game, an interesting case going on in Portugal helps shed some light on […]

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Fail Again. Fail Better: Reform of the EU Banking Sector.

Samuel Beckett’s exhortation to “fail better” could also be applied to the EU banking sector. Time and time again, troubled financial institutions have been bailed out by the taxpayer because they have been perceived as “too important to fail”. The ability of a large number of banks to benefit from excessive risk-taking without fully absorbing […]

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Will Portuguese privatisation pay the bills?

Portugal aims to raise €7 billion through privatisation as part of the conditions of its €78 billion IMF-EU bailout. Portugal’s Luis de Sousa, Chairman of TIAC, our national contact point in Portugal, talks about their efforts to maintain transparency as Portugal implements the conditions of its bailout. This March saw large public protests and demonstrations […]

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Will New EU Defence spending Rules Reduce Corruption ?

Julia Muravska, project officer in Transparency International’s Defence and Security Programme, asks whether EU countries will use new EU laws to tackle corruption in defence spending – or use to fine print to avoid real change. Notorious corruption allegations in the defence sector, such as those surrounding the BAE /SAAB fighter jet sales to South […]

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Corruption in Europe: Taking the pulse, prescribing reform

Paul Zoubkov and Helen Turek talk about Transparency International’s Europe wide initiative to improve national anti-corruption systems. Good governance, accountability and rule of law are among the key hallmarks of a healthy society, and yet right across Europe, there is a deep sense of frustration that key national institutions and actors are not living up […]

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