Financial Transparency Coalition

WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) joined 76 civil society organizations in calling upon the G20 to take action on corruption. In a letter submitted to G20 officials last week, the civil society groups affirmed their support for the G20’s work combating corruption, urged swift action and made recommendations.

76 civil society organizations, including 7 members of the Task Force—Christian Aid, Eurodad, Global Financial Integrity, Global Witness, Tax Justice Network, Tax Research UK, and Transparency International—submitted the attached letter to G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group officials on February 11, 2011. The letter affirmed the civil society groups' support for the G20’s work combating corruption, urged swift action and made recommendations.

LONDON – The coalition government’s decision to delay the implementation of the landmark Bribery Act for the second time casts serious doubt on its commitment to combatting corruption, said Global Witness, Tearfund, CAFOD and Christian Aid today. Passed with an all-party consensus in April 2010, the Act was supposed to be implemented last October, but was first shifted to April and is now delayed indefinitely.

Corruption is a criminal behavior. To contain the harm done to society by the corrupt, we rely on oversight and prosecution. We expect integrity from our leaders, and while the ability to stamp out corruption through prosecution is imperfect, it is demonstrable that few are immune from scrutiny. The headline grabbing investigations of figures like Tom DeLay, Charles Rangel, and Steven Ratner are only the most recent examples. Our response to corruption abroad follows the same reasoning. To foreign leaders we counsel: remove the corrupt from positions of power and prosecute them for their crimes. Yet for every story of...