Financial Transparency Coalition

Foreign bribery in Russiais a huge problem for the country’s economy. Investors are threatening to flee in droves in the face of ever increasing official depravity and the tightening of domestic laws on bribery abroad. Transparency International estimates that the total annual amount paid in bribes inRussia is worth $300 billion—equivalent to the GDP of Denmark. Global Financial Integrity estimates that the country lost an average $47 billion in illicit financial flows per year, a number which money transferred abroad stemming from tax evasion, corruption, and trade mispricing. Corruption has become an endemic characteristic of Russia’s public sector....

WASHINGTON, DC – Corruption, kickbacks and bribery are on the rise in Ethiopia, according to a forthcoming report from Global Financial Integrity, a Washington-based research and advocacy organization. According to the study, illicit financial flows out of the African nation nearly doubled to US$3.26 Billion in 2009 over the previous year, with corruption, kickbacks and bribery accounting for the vast majority of that increase.

An upcoming report by Global Financial Integrity finds that Ethiopia, which has a per-capita GDP of just US$365,lost US$11.7 billion to illicit financial outflows between 2000 and 2009. More worrying is that the study shows Ethiopia’s losses due to illicit capital flows are on the rise. In 2009, illicit money leaving the economy totaled US$3.26 billion, which is double the amount in each of the two previous years.

WASHINGTON, DC – A forthcoming report from Global Financial Integrity (GFI) finds Syria lost US$23.6 billion to corruption, crime and tax evasion from 2000-2009, writes GFI Economist Sarah Freitas in a new blog post on the website of the Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development (financialtransparency.org).