Financial Transparency Coalition

As many of you know, tomorrow (Wednesday, December 9th, 2009) is International Anti-Corruption Day. Among the days festivities, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development is sponsoring a roundtable on the fight against bribery and corruption, and Task Force member Transparency International is hosting a lecture with Lord Robertson of Port Ellen. Both of the events should be fascinating if you get a chance to attend. It's also important to remember that on a day as symbolically important as tomorrow, we (in the developed world) have a tendency to think of corruption solely as a problem...

The private sector plays a pivotal role in fighting corruption worldwide. Transparency International’s Global Corruption Report 2009 documents in unique detail the many corruption risks for businesses, ranging from small entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa to multinationals from Europe and North America. More than 75 experts examine the scale, scope and devastating consequences of a wide range of corruption issues, including bribery and policy capture, corporate fraud, cartels, corruption in supply chains and transnational transactions, emerging challenges for carbon trading markets, sovereign wealth funds and, growing economic centres, such as Brazil, China and India.

QUITO (Dow Jones)--Ecuador's state prosecutor, Diego Garcia, said Wednesday his office is studying whether to proceed with legal action in the U.S. against Chevron Corp. (CVX) in a case that stems from claims brought by indigenous groups against the oil company.

Gerald Green and Patricia Green, Los Angeles-area film executives, were found guilty late last Friday of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and money laundering laws of the United States, as well as substantive violations of the FCPA and U.S. money laundering laws in relation to a sophisticated bribery scheme that enabled the defendants to obtain a series of Thai government contracts, including valuable contracts to manage and operate Thailand’s yearly film festival.