Financial Transparency Coalition

LONDON—British high street banks have accepted millions of pounds in deposits from corrupt Nigerian politicians, raising serious questions about their commitment to tackling financial crime, warned Global Witness in a report published today. By taking money from corrupt Nigerian governors between 1999 and 2005, Barclays, NatWest, RBS, HSBC and UBS helped to fuel corruption and entrench poverty in Nigeria.

A Wall Street Journal article and a BBC program have recently discussed the potential merits of corruption. This seemingly provocative topic is indeed thought-provoking, but not exactly along the lines that the publishers or contributors intended. If we try to sum up the arguments that were developed, they are several. Corruption may be a way to circumvent bureaucratic inefficiencies, and to set a business or export goods more quickly, if not to simply survive like in the former USSR. The networks between...

On Sunday, US Attorney General Eric Holder delivered a promissory gem to the leaders gathered in Uganda, the pearl of Africa. It was not a pledge of more foreign aid for the continent – which has tripled since 2000 – but it could bring billions of dollars to Africa:

“ I’m pleased to announce that the U.S. Department of Justice is launching a new Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative aimed at combating large-scale foreign official corruption and recovering public funds for their intended – and proper – use:...

Denmark, Italy and United Kingdom Advance Toward Active Enforcement; 20 of 36 Signatories Doing Little to Nothing to Enforce Ban on Foreign Bribery A number of countries were applauded for their efforts to enforce a ban on foreign bribery in a report released yesterday by Transparency International (TI). Yet many countries are still not doing enough, if anything at all. The report looks at how well the 32 OECD member countries and non-members are complying with the OECD Anti-Bribery...