No more empty promises, the time for action on corruption is now by Transparency International 11:30am 8th May, 2018   No more empty promises, the time for action on corruption is now, by Delia Ferreira Rubio, Chair of Transparency International    International Anti-Corruption Day is an important opportunity to highlight the stories of citizens in the fight against corruption across the globe.    It is also an historic moment, marking the fifteen years since the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) was adopted, making it the largest international anti-corruption treaty with nearly 186 country signatories to date. It also marks the 25th anniversary of Transparency International.    As we commemorate, these landmarks, we find ourselves at a critical tipping point in the fight against corruption worldwide.    Together, with the global anti-corruption community, we’ve made some progress in preventing and sanctioning corruption and the corrupt. Today, fighting corruption is not only firmly on the international agenda, corruption has ceased to be an acceptable cost of doing business in many countries.    Thanks to the hard work of many anti-corruption fighters, we have international, regional and national anti-corruption conventions; laws that promote access to information critical to exposing and ending corruption; and national anti-corruption authorities and agencies to enforce anti-corruption measures.    However, while progress has been made, there is still much work left to do.    A growing number of countries have criminalised bribery, increased transparency in public procurement, implemented requirements for companies to disclose their ultimate owners, and extended rules and regulations to the private sector. However, while policies and standards are necessary, they are not enough to turn the tide against corruption.    Governments and businesses need to implement and report on anti-corruption efforts, promote access to information for citizens and comply with rules, standards and principles.    Transparency International, and its chapters in more than 100 countries, are working to track the compliance of governments and business in keeping their commitments and report on any improvements or failures in their efforts.    The time for new promises, unrealized commitments and fig leaf declarations is over; for government and businesses alike. Citizens deserve better than well-intentioned words, now is the time for action.    Global setbacks    Despite some advances, many countries controlled by powerful elites still protect corrupt individuals, grant pardons or pass special laws that benefit a select few. Even more alarming, many of the same political elites try to stop investigative journalists and anti-corruption activists and organizations from speaking out.    As a global community, we need to work together to protect and defend civil society whenever and wherever whistleblowers, activists, journalists or civil society organisations (CSOs) are attacked or harassed. When we protect their rights, we defend the rights and freedoms of everyone.    Priorities for the future    The fight against corruption requires a multi-pronged and synchronized approach to effectively prevent and sanction those who take part in corruption.    We won’t end corruption without coordinated action from businesses, governments, communities and activists. A simple formula for an anti-corruption program involves four lines of action: more information, more integrity, less impunity and less indifference.    The good and bad of technology    Greater access to information won’t be achieved by simply approving laws, creating specialized offices or increasing access to data. While those actions go a long way in promoting transparency, they are most effective when combined with other important mechanisms.    Technology offers powerful new tools that can strengthen our access to information. At its best, technology can help people combat corruption in their daily lives. This ranges from improving the ease with which people can report issues or rate public services, to their ability to monitor political spending or gather signatures for online petitions.    However, we should also be aware of the challenges that technologies pose to individual rights and freedoms, clean and fair elections, political participation and other key aspects of democracy. Technology can also be misappropriated and used in sophisticated ways to hide money and obscure illicit transactions.    Ending impunity and promoting judicial independence    While it may seem obvious, it is essential for corrupt individuals to be held accountable for their actions and face both timely and appropriate consequences. Otherwise, what’s to prevent those individuals from continuing to act corruptly or deter other individuals from doing the same?    At the same time, we need to work hard to guarantee that public prosecutors and judges are independent and have the resources and legal authority they need to efficiently investigate, prosecute and sanction those involved in corrupt deals.    Improving integrity    Even those countries that score at the top of our Corruption Perceptions Index are not immune to corruption. Many clean countries operate as safe havens for money launderers, enabling a flow of dirty money across the globe that can often be difficult to detect. Double standards should not exist for those countries that export corruption beyond borders or protect the corrupt, their families or their assets through Golden Visa programs.    Working together to make a difference    To tackle corruption successfully, we need to work together. We need to involve more women and youth. And we need to strengthen and rebuild trust with ordinary citizens, who are the real victims of corruption.    Corrupt individuals rob countries of the necessary resources to support infrastructure, hospitals, schools, sanitation and opportunities for development. Stolen funds not only line the pockets of powerful elites, they damage the lives of everyday people by preventing access to lifesaving services.    A call to action for citizens    Social indifference is a breeding ground for corruption. Beyond institutional reforms, commitment and participation from citizens is essential. If corrupt individuals continue to win votes and elections, they will continue to abuse their power and use their position to protect themselves.    On this International Anti-Corruption Day, citizens should send their leaders a clear message: they will no longer tolerate corruption in their country. The fight against corruption is also a fight for transparency, integrity, equality, good governance, rule of law and a strong democracy. Not in their own right, but for the wellbeing and security of billions of global citizens. http://bit.ly/2Qkdj1r    Corruption robs schools, hospitals and others of vitally needed funds, by António Guterres.    Corruption is present in all countries, “rich and poor, North and South, developed and developing,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres told the UN Security Council, at a September session on tackling corruption.    “Numbers show the startling scope of the challenge,” the UN chief said, citing World Economic Forum estimates that corruption costs at least $2.6 trillion. And according to the World Bank, businesses and individuals pay more than $1 trillion in bribes each year.    Corruption robs schools, hospitals and others of vitally needed funds. It rots institutions, as public officials enrich themselves or turn a blind eye to criminality. It deprives people of their rights, drives away foreign investment and despoils the environment.    Corruption breeds disillusion with government and governance – and is often at the root of political dysfunction and social disunity. The poor and vulnerable suffer disproportionately. And impunity compounds the problem.    Corruption can be a trigger for conflict. As conflict rages, corruption prospers. And even if conflict ebbs, corruption can impede recovery.    Corruption drives and thrives on the breakdown of political and social institutions. These institutions are never more in crisis than in times of conflict.    Corruption is linked to many forms of instability and violence, such as the illicit trafficking in arms, drugs and people. Assets stolen through corruption can be used to finance further crimes, including violent extremist and terrorist acts.    Large-scale corruption surveys conducted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime found that bribery of public officials was particularly high in areas affected by conflict. In conflict situations, stakeholders such as anti-corruption commissions, civil society and the media may be weakened or hindered in their essential work.    The consequences of corruption in times of conflict can be especially devastating as they can affect the most basic needs and exacerbate hunger and poverty.    Member States must be on the frontlines in the fight against corruption. It is especially important to build up the capacity of national anti-corruption commissions and prosecutorial efforts.    Governments can also enhance anti-corruption efforts by ensuring independent judiciaries, a vibrant civil society, freedom of the media and effective whistleblower protections.    The international community can complement those efforts by working more effectively against money laundering, tax evasion and the illicit financial flows that have deprived countries of much-needed resources, and that feed further corruption.    I have called for heightened efforts to prevent conflict and to address risks early, before they escalate. In that spirit, combatting corruption and addressing governance challenges, which lie at the root of many conflicts, must be a component of preventive approaches.    As I said to the General Assembly last May in marking the 15th anniversary of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, the role of the UN is crucial. Before the adoption of the Convention, there was no global instrument to criminalize corruption, or to recover stolen proceeds. Now the Convention has 186 States Parties, and the crime of corruption is on the books of nearly every country in the world.    The Convention’s review mechanisms serve as a global framework for international cooperation to strengthen prevention, to disrupt money laundering schemes, return stolen proceeds from foreign banks and other necessary actions. I encourage all Member States to bring greater resolve to its implementation.    Let us also take profit of advances of technology, which give us an opportunity to massively expand public participation in governance and to increase accountability.    At the same time, we know that conventions and legal measures must be empowered by strong leadership that elevates corruption as a serious concern and makes it a priority for action.    People across the world continue to express outrage at the corruption of their leaders, and at how deeply corruption is embedded in societies. They are rightly calling for political establishments to operate with transparency and accountability – or make way for those who will.    I call on leaders everywhere to listen, to nurture a culture of integrity and to empower citizens to do their part at the grass roots.    We must all do more to fight corruption, strengthen governance and build trustworthy institutions that can ensure probity and progress for all.    Nov. 2018    G20 Implement your Anti-Corruption Commitments, by Maria Emilia Berazategui, Poder Ciudadano. (TI Argentinian Chapter)    In recent years, major cross-border grand corruption scandals have rocked G20 countries. Many of these cases have a common denominator: anonymous companies. Companies that hide the identity of the person at the source of the funds have been used to not only launder stolen money, but also to operationalise corrupt deals by using companies and offshore accounts to pay bribes or buy influence. These anonymous companies hide the identity of those that ultimately own, benefit or control a company or legal arrangement, the beneficial owners.    This is despite the G20 adopting High Level Principles on Beneficial Ownership Transparency in 2014; and again in 2016, several G20 members adopted further commitments linked to beneficial ownership transparency at the London Anti-Corruption Summit.    On paper, these positive steps provide grounds for optimism, yet more than three years after the G20 Beneficial Ownership Principles were adopted, the pace at which G20 countries have started implementing their commitments is too slow and too uneven. In contrast to the advances in transparency that are taking place in the European Union, Latin America and potentially even in tax shelters such as the Cayman Islands or the British Virgin Islands, Argentina has recently taken a significant step back in the fight against corruption.    In August of this year, the current G20 host country and current chair of its Anti-Corruption Working Group, decided to weaken its tools to tackle the abuse of legal entities that are incorporated or operating in its territory. Through a resolution the Argentinian government eliminated the obligation to make publicly available the list of shareholders of a foreign company that wishes to operate in the country.    Although the requirement to submit a sworn declaration about the beneficial owners of the company still remains, the obligation of presenting this declaration every year has been abolished. This means that the government now has less information about the real owners of companies, and the sources of their money. A convenient loophole for corruption.    Transparency in beneficial ownership is one of the leading concerns of the C20 Anti-Corruption Working Group. Representing civil society, the C20 is one of the seven Engagement Groups of the G20, and has made concrete proposals that Argentina and other G20 countries should implement in order to tackle the abuse of anonymous companies:    Implement a public, central register on beneficial ownership. Timely access to sufficient, accurate and up-to-date information about companies and the people who ultimately own and benefit from them is vital in order to tackle corruption, money laundering and tax evasion. Information is the key and, without public registers, getting and sharing information is very difficult.    A public, central register is the most effective and practical way to avoid diverging standards in access to beneficial ownership information and to facilitate cross-border investigations and international cooperation.    Request all companies that bid for public contracts to publish beneficial ownership information in order to identify potential conflicts of interest, reduce the opportunities for collusion between linked companies, create fair competition for companies and ensure full knowledge of who is ultimately benefitting from public money. This is an easy solution for countries facing delays in the implementation of their public, central beneficial ownership registers.    Use existing platforms, such as national anti-corruption strategies or Open Government Partnership (OGP) National Action Plans, to draw all the international commitments linked to beneficial ownership into the national sphere, in a format that is more easily implemented and context-specific, and with a specific deadline.    It’s not possible to successfully fight against corruption without solid policies and legal frameworks that tackle the use of anonymous companies. As a group of leading economies, the G20 countries should be at the forefront of change. http://bit.ly/2EaNHO7 Visit the related web page
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