Financial Transparency Coalition

When we talk about economic growth and corruption, it is often in one direction: corruption hurts economic growth. One of the major reasons for this is that corruption increases risk and uncertainty for businesses and investors and provides a distinct disincentive for their investments. Lower investment levels lead to less economic growth. Less frequently, we say economic growth is an antidote to corruption. But this is also almost certainly true. The reasoning is somewhat complex and indirect, though. Economic growth does not directly ameliorate corruption. Rather, economic growth leads to better access to education, awareness of rights, empowerment of citizens,...

On a large scale, corruption undermines development and democracy, exacerbates poverty, erodes civil society, stifles social services, and worsens public health. When it involves cross-boarder flow of money, it is damaging to economies not just because of the underlying corrupt acts, but also because it deprives the country of both public and private resources—including financial capital—that might otherwise be diverted to productive activities. Most of the corruption that we talk about on this blog and in the general dialogue about corruption and economic development—concerns this sort of large-scale corruption. But there is another kind of corruption that is often overlooked:...

In a judgment having far reaching consequence, a three judges bench of the Supreme Court of India, in the case of Vodafone International Holdings BV v. Union of India, has set aside the Mumbai High Court judgment, which had required Vodafone to pay capital gains tax worth US$2.5 billion to the Government of India for a transaction that had seen the company acquire 67 per cent stake in Hutchison Essar (a mobile phone operator in India) in 2007. Vodafone, the second largest telecom operator in India, had challenged the tax bill over its US$11.5 billion deal to buy Hutchison...

Every other week, the Task Force will be highlighting a Featured Allied Organization. The Task Force has 125 member organizations from all over the world which endorse its mission. Click here to access previous Featured Allied Organization posts. This week’s Featured Allied Organization is Pragati, Koraput. Pragati, Koraput was established in January 1992 with the mission