Financial Transparency Coalition

Keynote Address by Senator Carl Levin at the Conference on Increasing Transparency in Global Finance: A Development Imperative. Remarks as prepared for delivery.

I run the international development program at SAIS, at Johns Hopkins, and for the last several years I’ve been involved in governance issues because it does seem to me that the development community has finally woken up to the importance of good governance and institutions. Obviously, the fight against corruption is a key part of this agenda. I think there is a very broad consensus that has fallen into place over the last decade or so about just how detrimental corruption is in undermining the legitimacy of democratic institutions and in impeding growth.