Financial Transparency Coalition

The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)'s victory in Mexico's presidential elections signifies a new challenge for curbing Mexican capital flight. Returning after a 12 year hiatus from office, PRI will govern both a quickly growing democracy and an underground economy that transcends the party's old negotiation strategy. Modern drug traffickers in Mexico's most corrupt regions have more intelligent and larger money laundering operations than those of previous decades, signaling a need for greater transparency in Mexico's financial structure.

WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) praised G20 leaders today for prominently focusing on the issue of illicit financial flows, committing to move toward the automatic exchange of tax information, and renewing the mandate of the Anti-Corruption Working Group for another two years, but expressed disappointment in the leaders’ failure to address the issue of anonymous shell companies.

Corruption is notoriously difficult to measure. It’s not just because it is an illicit activity. In part it’s because the concept itself is undefined and relative. Transparency International found a (brilliant) way around this when they began surveying each nation’s public perception of corruption, rather than trying to define a concrete set of corrupt activities. So what is corruption? Transparency International uses the following working definition of corruption: “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain.” I imagine that's vague on purpose. So how do we define specific corrupt activities? Corruption isn’t just bribe paying, although that’s often it. It’s not just...

It is increasingly recognised that corruption can only be tackled effectively through the joint action of all stakeholders, i.e. the public sector, business and civil society. There is a growing trend to include the private sector in development initiatives to ensure that it becomes part of the solution rather than being part of the problem. But can companies that are driven by short-term business interests really be part of the solution to corruption? And can multi-stakeholder groups made up of actors with very different aims and approaches really lead to effective solutions?