Financial Transparency Coalition

Cheating in sports has existed for as long as the sports themselves. During the ancient Olympic Games in Olympia, Greece, officials placed pedestals inscribed with athletes' names at the entrance of the stadium. The names were not of great athletes, but of those who violated the rules of the Games, in order to punish them into perpetuity. In today’s version of public dishonor, our media nationally broadcasts the names and crimes of steroid-injecting baseball players, blood-doping cyclists, and plotting figure-skaters. Other athletes, who are perhaps not directly cheating in their sports, are engaging in morally reprehensible behavior. Nearly daily,...

The resource curse is a tragic phenomenon that countries well-endowed with natural resources tend to have slower economic growth and poorer development than those without. This theory has been demonstrated very strongly in quantitative terms. According to an analysis of developing countries by Jeffrey Sachs and Andrew Warner, the more an economy relies on mineral wealth, the lower its growth rate. Countries with significant natural resource endowments also tend to have an increased likelihood of experiencing war and violence and a decreased likelihood of having a democratic system of governance. In January of 2011 the people of Southern Sudan—this also...

Last week, Global Financial Integrity (GFI) awarded its most prestigious honor, the Award for Exemplary Leadership, to Senator Carl Levin (D-MI). The Senator is the third person to receive this award and, given his long and exemplary career of leadership, it was well-deserved. He accepted the award at The Army and Navy Club inWashington,DC. Senator Levin’s record of protecting American families, particularly by holding powerful institutions accountable, began with the first piece of legislation he proposed as a U.S. senator--a bill to end discrimination by credit card companies. Over his tenure in the U.S. Senate, Senator Levin has proved himself...

To effectively respond to criminal and terrorist threats, law enforcement officials pursue evolving technologies. Take the Transportation Security Administration, which since September 11th, regularly unrolls new procedures, technologies, and rules. Sometimes, as with the 2001 Shoe Bomb Plot after which passengers must remove their shoes for screening, these adaptations come as a response to a specific terrorist attack or attempt. Other times, TSA unveils new technologies to keep ahead of those threats that are still unknown. The same is true with money laundering. Governments and law enforcement officials are continually seeking new methods of detection, new financial rules, and new...