Financial Transparency Coalition

WASHINGTON (IPS) – Changes to a key anti-bribery law that applies to international commerce, proposed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, could have disastrous consequences, hurting multinational firms, human rights, and the U.S.'s place of respect as an early adopter of the legislation, opponents to the changes argued here Friday.

Have you ever heard someone really intelligent say something really wrong? I certainly have. It happens all the time. Smart people aren’t always right. Well, apparently, that’s also true of publications. The Economist, which self-identifies as a magazine for the highly intelligent, has (with perhaps a touch of good humor) claimed in its advertisements that it “makes white collars brighter” and called itself the “leaders digest.” While I don’t agree with many of its convictions, I more often than not respect its point of view. At the very least, I believe its articles are well-researched, carefully considered, and supported by...

It pains me to report that The Economist published a shoddy piece of journalism today on the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.   The article can be read in full here. Heather Lowe, Legal Counsel and Director of Government Affairs at Global Financial Integrity, has responded to the article by publishing the following comment on The Economist's website:

I am quite surprised by both the tenor and lack of critical analysis in this particular piece. It is important that Economist readers understand the following:

Congratulations to Professor Prem Sikka, a senior adviser to the Tax Justice Network, for his extraordinary success on the case of Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI). Information on the investigation into BCCI, that was previously withheld from the public by the UK government, has now been released. Prem has fought a legal battle for five years so that missing information in the "Sandstorm Report" could be made publicly available. The case of BCCI, (referred to by many as "Bank of Crooks and Commerce International"), is possibly the biggest banking fraud in history. BCCI is a story of massive-scale Continue Reading