Financial Transparency Coalition

About two weeks ago, I wrote about the “upward trajectory” of India’s stance on black money and transparency in international finance. I predicted that the country (eventually) would become a leader in this arena. In case you’ve missed India’s catapult into this discussion, here’s the background. In April of 2009, after becoming very upset by the evidence there are rivers of ‘black money’ flowing out of India, the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rajnath Singh, told voters that if they elected his party into office he would, within 100 days, “bring back all the black money stashed in foreign...

On Monday, October 10, a variety of prominent Indian business leaders under the larger title of India Inc released their second open letter to the Indian government. This letter argues for the need to make striking changes to India’s legislation regarding bribery and corruption. It was written with an eye toward a newly proposed law called the Lokpal Bill which has been discussed extensively over the past year and is expected to be formally presented before India’s parliament in the near future. This bill intends to fight corruption by creating an ombudsman-style body with the power...

In April of 2009, after becoming very upset by the evidence there are rivers of ‘black money’ flowing out of India, the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rajnath Singh, told voters that if they elected his party into office he would, within 100 days, “bring back all the black money stashed in foreign banks and distribute among ‘the common poor people.’” As we know, the BJP did not come to power in India in 2009 so fortunately for Rajnath Singh, his party never needed to prove this monumental task was possible. It’s not, by the way. At the...

For any act of corruption, there is a demand—that is, a venal official who is willing to accept a bribe—but there is also a supply—an individual or business willing to supply it. The dualistic nature of corruption is a headache, particularly for public individuals and institutions interested in stemming the harmful practice. For example, India’s environment minister, Jairam Ramesh has commented on the difficulty for environmental regulators inIndia to check violations of green controls. He noted "I can control the demand for corruption but someone has to control the supply of corruption too. I cannot stop that." Fortunately, as a...