Financial Transparency Coalition

The developing world has long been plagued with poverty, political turmoil, and corruption. This vicious cycle has been extensively researched, combated, and discussed from many different angles, but nothing has been able to completely ‘solve’ it. While it is unrealistic to seek a blanket solution to the issues that keep countries perpetually poor and unstable, one must look at the wider spectrum of developmental issues and ask, “Why do they persist?” Oscar Abello brings to light one huge reason why they do: financial opacity.

Thursday's Top News Stories from Global Financial Integrity.

Corruption is notoriously difficult to measure. It’s not just because it is an illicit activity. In part it’s because the concept itself is undefined and relative. Transparency International found a (brilliant) way around this when they began surveying each nation’s public perception of corruption, rather than trying to define a concrete set of corrupt activities. So what is corruption? Transparency International uses the following working definition of corruption: “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain.” I imagine that's vague on purpose. So how do we define specific corrupt activities? Corruption isn’t just bribe paying, although that’s often it. It’s not just...

China Economic Weekly Releases Report on Officials Escaping Overseas The Epoch Times, June 11, 2012 Civil society groups call on EU to require firms to disclose true ownership Trust Law, June 11, 2012 A Drug Family in the Winner’s Circle The New York Times, June 12, 2012 Philippines risks joining money-laundering blacklist Reuters, June 7,