Public Integrity for an Effective COVID-19 Response and Recovery / Campaigners call for transparency in Myanmar / Fewer corruption-related reports in Singapore last year

Public Integrity for an Effective COVID-19 Response and Recovery (Policy Note). "The COVID-19 crisis creates opportunities for many integrity violations, particularly in public procurement, economic stimulus packages and public organisations, undermining government action. How can these risks be addressed?"  

 

OECD: https://lnkd.in/eTJ8d8E #covid19 

  

 

Campaigners call for transparency in Myanmar timber trade after 850 tons of wood seized. “Despite a crackdown on illegal logging on the border between northern Myanmar and China’s Yunnan province last year, earlier this month Myanmar announced it seized 850 tons of teak and other timber it says were illegally logged in the week up to April 5. The seizures – and lack of data on the timber, the location of the logging and final destination of the wood – has raised fresh questions over transparency in the timber sector from campaigners. 

 

Michael Tatarski / Mongabay: https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/campaigners-call-for-transparency-in-myanmar-timber-trade-after-850-tons-of-teak-seized/ 

 

 

Fewer corruption-related reports in Singapore last year: CPIB. “C levels in Singapore remain firmly under control, with the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) receiving 350 corruption-related reports last year, down 2 per cent from the 358 reports received in 2018. There were fewer corruption-related reports last year, but more cases registered for investigation due to better quality information received, the bureau said. This was due to the improvement in the quality of information received, coupled with efforts to enhance investigative enquiries and intelligence probes. CPIB has also significantly enhanced prevention and outreach efforts in 2019 to raise anti-corruption awareness.” 

 

Angela Tan / The Business Times: https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/fewer-corruption-related-reports-in-singapore-last-year-cpib 

 

Keeping transparency on track / Anti-Corruption Strategies for Development Agencies During the Covid-19 Pandemic / How to respond to COVID-19 through open government Webinar

Keeping transparency on track (Opinion). “Drawing on a survey of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on EITI implementation in 53 countries, we examine the threats to resource transparency from the pandemic and offer some ideas on what it will take to keep transparency on track.” 

 

EITI: https://eiti.org/blog/keeping-transparency-on-track 

 

 

 

Anti-Corruption Strategies for Development Agencies During the Covid-19 Pandemic (Anti-Corruption Helpdesk Brief). “After surveying evidence of the extent and impact of corruption in humanitarian crises, this Helpdesk Answer considers the particular challenges to anti-corruption efforts posed by the COVID-19 outbreak. Concerningly, the health sector is particularly vulnerable to corruption; it is estimated that at least US$455 billion of the US$7.35 trillion spent on healthcare per year is lost to fraud and corruption.” 

 

Matthew Jenkins/ Aram Khaghaghordyan / Kaunain Rahman / Jorum Duri (Transparency International): https://knowledgehub.transparency.org/helpdesk/anti-corruption-strategies-for-development-agencies-during-the-covid-19-pandemic 

 

 

How to respond to COVID-19 through open government (Webinar). “Apolitical and the Co-Chairs of the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee are co-hosting a workshop on how to use open government practices to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic to eventually move towards open and effective recovery efforts. How to respond to COVID-19 through open government | 5th May, 7am-8am EDT/12pm-1pm BST. 

 

OGP / apolitical: https://apolitical.co/covid-open-government/ 

Weakened KPK may face hurdles / COVID-19 and Corruption: The View from South Asia (Webinar) / A pandemic of corruption

Weakened KPK may face hurdles in probing social aid graft: Activists. ““If the COVID-19 aid funds are misused by state officials, such as regents, mayors, governors or ministers and their respective deputies, it will be difficult because [the KPK] is very procedural it needs to report to the President in handling those cases,” Former KPK deputy chief Mochammad Jasin said during a virtual discussion held by Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW)” 

 

The Jakarta Post: https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/04/24/weakened-kpk-may-face-hurdles-in-probing-social-aid-graft-activists.html 

 

 

COVID-19 and Corruption: The View from South Asia (Webinar). “Please join a discussion organized by CIPE’s Anti-Corruption & Governance Center and Accountability Lab on Wednesday, April 29th from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM EST. The session will feature an overview of issues in the region from well recognized South Asia expert and Illinois State University professor Dr. Ali Riaz.” 

 

CIPE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/covid-19-and-corruption-the-view-from-south-asia-tickets-103483184992?ref=estw 

 

 

A pandemic of corruption: $40 masks, questionable contracts, rice-stealing bureaucrats mar coronavirus response. “Countries large and small are shelling out trillions of dollars to combat both the coronavirus outbreak and its brutal economic fallout in what analysts are calling the largest financial response ever to a single global crisis. As governments race to source everything from food aid to face masks, they are prioritizing speed over transparency, dropping competitive bidding and other safeguards to keep pace with the pandemic.” 

 

Anthony Faiola and Anthony Faiola / Washington Post:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/coronavirus-corruption-colombia-argentina-romania-bangladesh/2020/04/26/c88a9a44-8007-11ea-84c2-0792d8591911_story.html 

 

How Asean countries can turn the tide on corruption / Open Response, Open Recovery / Seven held in four mask fraud cases

How Asean countries can turn the tide on corruption (Opinion). “As economies start to look towards the future again, they have an opportunity to tackle corruption at the same time: if Asean countries can mobilise to defeat coronavirus, they can do the same for corruption.” 

 

Brook Horowitz / Financial Times: https://www.ft.com/content/ef7426be-7500-11ea-90ce-5fb6c07a27f2 

 

 

Open Response, Open Recovery. “The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled governments and citizens alike to take unprecedented, mitigating actions. In their shared struggle, mutual trust between government and citizenry can be key for successful, mutually-reinforcing response and recovery.” 

 

Sanjay Pradhan / Open Government Partnership: https://www.opengovpartnership.org/stories/open-response-open-recovery/ 

 

 

Seven held in four mask fraud cases. “Immigration police have arrested seven people in separate raids for public fraud over the sales of face masks. One of them claimed to be a police officer who allegedly cheated a victim out of 1.46 million baht for the sale of non-existent masks.” 

 

Bangkok Post: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1906135/seven-held-in-four-mask-fraud-cases 

 

Open fiscal data can boost trust in pandemic response / COVID-19: A perfect storm for the corrupt? / Indian court quashes government's call for ban on Deloitte, KPMG affiliate

Open fiscal data can boost trust in pandemic response (Opinion). “[Indonesia’s] President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s calls for greater transparency in the government response to COVID-19 has offered new hope in the face of national disaster. (..) Improved transparency may boost solidarity to the government endeavors in this turbulent time. Conversely, the lack of openness may perpetuate a false sense of security, misinformation and harmful actions. It could also trigger contagious anxiety, leading to the stigmatization of the COVID-19 victims and patients.” 

 

Citra Handayani Nasruddin / Jakarta Post: https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2020/04/23/open-fiscal-data-can-boost-trust-in-pandemic-response.html 

 

 

COVID-19: A perfect storm for the corrupt? (Opinion) “Given the gaps and weaknesses in anti-money laundering systems of various countries, it is likely that corrupt individuals will continue to rely on existing mechanisms and networks to make bribe payments, as well as hide and launder the proceeds of corruption — particularly while they assume resources and attention are focused elsewhere.” 

 

Maíra Martini / Transparency International: https://voices.transparency.org/covid-19-perfect-storm-for-the-corrupt-c42eb9dfc234 

 

 

Indian court quashes government's call for ban on Deloitte, KPMG affiliate.  “An Indian court on Tuesday quashed efforts by the federal government to impose a ban on auditors Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP and a KPMG affiliate for their alleged abetment of a financial fraud at a domestic firm.” 

 

CNA: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/indian-court-quashes-government-s-call-for-ban-on-deloitte--kpmg-affiliate-12664890 

Accountability & Prevention of Corruption / China set to pre-empt financial frauds/ Police Persecution of Journalists and Anti-Corruption Activists in Myanmar

Accountability & Prevention of Corruption in the allocation and distribution of emergency economic rescue packages in the context & aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic (Policy Brief). “In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to be mindful that the purpose of the recent economic responses made by Member States are not intended to provoke economic stimulus activity, as would happen in times of cyclical recession, but rather, to prevent economic catastrophe and provide financial, medical and social support to the poor, the elderly, women and youth, people with disabilities, the unemployed, SMEs4 and those lacking access to social and public services”. 

 

UNODC: https://www.unodc.org/documents/Advocacy-Section/COVID-19_and_Anti-Corruption-2.pdf 

 

 

After Luckin fiasco, China set to pre-empt financial frauds. “China is planning more stringent measures to safeguard investors from securities fraud, as the recent Luckin Coffee fiasco has drawn the attention of capital market regulators(…).The measures will be supported by the new Securities Law, with focus on tougher regulatory penalties, securities class action lawsuits, and easier restrictions on short selling.” 

 

Zhou Lanxu / China Daily: https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202004/21/WS5e9e35e8a3105d50a3d178b1.html 

 

 

Police Persecution of Journalists and Anti-Corruption Activists in Myanmar Must Stop (Press release). “Transparency International calls for the authorities in Myanmar to immediately cease their ongoing crackdown on anti-corruption activists and independent media outlets. The government must allow a safe environment for civil society organisations and independent media to publish objective and impartial information, which is especially vital during the current public health emergency.”  

 

Transparency International: https://www.transparency.org/news/pressrelease/police_persecution_of_journalists_and_anti_corruption_activists_in_myanmar?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The%20week%20in%20corruption%2017%20April%202020&utm_content=The%20week%20in%20corruption%2017%20April%202020+CID_57a6502f4bfccbcfe8bd557b9c6598a6&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=Police%20persecution%20of%20journalists%20and%20anti-corruption%20activists%20in%20Myanmar%20must%20stop 

Corruption can have no place in COVID-19 recovery / Look Out, Corruption Ahead / COVID-19 Research Action Grants

Corruption can have no place in our COVID-19 recovery (Opinion). “Governments, businesses, civil-society organizations and citizens are facing an unprecedented challenge and are asked to be resilient and find effective measures to address the health and non-health-related implications of COVID-19. As this unparalleled crisis puts healthcare systems, people’s safety and the economy under strain, it is imperative that transparency and accountability remain at the heart of the global response. This generation will be judged on how this situation is handled, and we need to make sure good governance is at the core of a new social and economic order.” 

 

Lisa Ventura / WEF: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/corruption-no-place-covid-coronavirus-recovery/ 

 

 

Look Out, Corruption Ahead (Opinion). As the country mobilizes resources to address the pandemic, politicians and corporations may attempt to exploit the crisis to enrich themselves. 

 

Sarah Chayes / The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/04/course-relief-money-will-be-ill-spent/610126/ 

 

 

COVID-19 Research Action Grants (Grant Opportunity). Apply for a $3,000 research grant to explore more effective procurement addressing COVID-19. Deadline, 4 May.  

 

Open Contracting Partnership: https://open-contracting-partnership.forms.fm/covid-19-research-opportunity/forms/7895 

Only 59% of Malaysia public listed companies have anti-corruption policies in place / IMF: spend what you can to fight Covid-19 but keep the receipts / Corruption mars Bangladesh's Covid-19 relief efforts

Only 59% of Malaysia public listed companies have anti-corruption policies in place. “The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) (…) said in its 2019 annual report, which was released today, that it had reviewed the anti-corruption policies of listed companies in light of the corporate liability provision (Section 17A3) in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009, which comes into force on June 1, 2020. "The review found that only 59% of listed companies had anti-corruption policies in place, and the majority of these policies required enhancements to bring them in line with the Guidelines on Adequate Procedures issued by the Prime Minister’s Department”.” 

 

Muhammed Ahmad Hamdan / The Edge Markets: https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/sc-only-59-malaysia-public-listed-companies-have-anticorruption-policies-place 

 

 

IMF: spend what you can to fight Covid-19 but keep the receipts. “Kristalina Georgieva, the fund’s managing director, said it was right that the organisation’s 189 members were boosting spending on health and protecting livelihoods but warned that the $8tn (£6.4tn) already mobilised should be accounted for properly. “Spend what you can but keep the receipts,” Georgieva said (…). We don’t want accountability and transparency to take a back seat”.” 

 

Larry Elliott / The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/apr/15/spend-what-you-can-to-fight-covid-19-imf-tells-member-states 

 

 

Corruption mars Bangladesh's Covid-19 relief efforts. “Dozens of local leaders of the ruling Awami League and local government officials have been arrested in Bangladesh for alleged corruption and theft of food items meant for the poor during the Covid-19 shutdown. (…) They have been accused of stealing 4,167 sacks full of rice, the staple food in Bangladesh, weighing over 200 tonnes.” 

 

UCA news: https://www.ucanews.com/news/corruption-mars-bangladeshs-covid-19-relief-efforts/87700 

How Will the Coronavirus Reshape Democracy and Governance Globally / US returns US$300m of 1MDB funds to Malaysia / Protection of Whistleblowers Vital During Covid-19

How Will the Coronavirus Reshape Democracy and Governance Globally? “Corruption undermines the effectiveness of public health responses, particularly if valuable resources are diverted from high-need areas or citizens are denied treatment if they refuse to pay bribes. (…) However, the crisis could also end up spurring new anticorruption measures. If corruption spikes rapidly when governments implement crisis measures, widespread public outrage may catalyze reforms that improve health governance and public accountability.” 

 

Frances Z. Brown / Saskia Brechenmacher / Thomas Carothers / Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: https://bit.ly/3beYeEE 

 

 

US returns US$300m of 1MDB funds to Malaysia. "The amount of money stolen from the people of Malaysia is staggering, and we have been relentless in recovering assets that always should have been used for their benefit." said US Attorney Nick Hanna in a statement. 

 

CNA: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/us-returns-us-300m-of-1mdb-funds-to-malaysia-12642624 

 

 

Protection of Whistleblowers Vital During Covid-19. “Across the world, demands are growing for strong public accountability over responses by governments to the COVID-19 crisis – with the importance of whistleblowers, in particular, being vividly demonstrated as never before. Now the importance of whistleblower protection has been reinforced by a global statement following some dramatic mistakes by officials and authorities in their knee jerk reactions to the pandemic.” 

 

A J Brown/ Transparency Internationa Australia: https://transparency.org.au/protection-of-whistleblowers-vital-during-covid-19/ 

 

Corruption Warnings Increase as Governments Respond to COVID-19 Pandemic / Panama Papers Four Years On / For Myanmar Muslims, religious freedom founders in red tape

Corruption Warnings Increase as Governments Respond to COVID-19 Pandemic (Opinion). “ National governments are under enormous pressure to fast-track emergency relief and purchase essential supplies to stem the tide of the COVID-19 pandemic. But as officials ramp up emergency responses, watch dogs and experts are sounding the alarm over the ballooning risks of corruption and misappropriation during the crisis.” 

 

Benjamin Schmidt / CIPE: https://acgc.cipe.org/business-of-integrity-blog/corruption-warnings-increase-as-governments-respond-to-covid-19-pandemic/ 

 

 

Panama Papers Four Years On: Anonymous Companies and Global Wealth. “Four years, countless scandals and a Netflix movie later, there has been significant progress but tax justice and corporate secrecy continue to be pressing problems. Abuse of anonymous shell companies is among the reasons why many countries are facing greater challenges today in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. For years, they have enabled corruption, fraud and tax evasion. This has meant that taxes and public resources that could have served to improve healthcare systems, did not arrive or were embezzled from public coffers.” 

 

Transparency International:  

https://www.transparency.org/news/feature/panama_papers_four_years_anonymous_companies_corporate_secrecy 

 

 

For Myanmar Muslims, religious freedom founders in red tape (Opinion). “A committee trying to resurrect shuttered and burned-down mosques has been frustrated by government bureaucracy, leaving many Muslim communities without local places of worship.” 

 

Eaint Thet Su / Frontier Myanmar: https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/for-myanmar-muslims-religious-freedom-founders-in-red-tape 

Two Judges Call for an International Anti-Graft Court / Iraq's designated prime minister says to control arms, fight corruption. / What Has Corruption Got to do with Human Rights Abuses?

Two Judges Call for an International Anti-Graft Court. Two prominent judges said on Thursday (9 April) that with billions being poured into the fight against the coronavirus, the world needs now more than ever an International Anti-Corruption Court (IACC) “to punish and deter kleptocrats who enjoy impunity in the countries they rule.” 

 

Zdravko Ljubas/ OCCRP: https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/12056-two-judges-call-for-an-international-anti-graft-court 

 

 

Iraq's designated prime minister says to control arms, fight corruption. “Iraq’s designated prime minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi said on Thursday that arms should only be in government’s hands. The designated PM (…) also said in a televised speech the key objectives for his government will be to fight corruption and return displaced people back home.” 

 

Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-politics/iraqs-designated-prime-minister-says-to-control-arms-fight-corruption-idUSKCN21R3F0 

 

 

What Has Corruption Got to do with Human Rights Abuses? (Opinion).  “Corruption in all its forms, whether embezzlement, trading in influence, illicit enrichment, laundering proceeds of crime, concealment, obstruction of justice, bribery or abuse of function, may create conditions conductive of, and so facilitate, human rights abuses.” 

 

Ewelina U. Ochab / Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewelinaochab/2020/04/12/what-has-corruption-got-to-do-with-human-rights-abuses/#417ed4536e70 

 

Graft concerns overshadow COVID-19 relief fund / Graft fear for virus aid / The lessons Portugal could learn from Singapore in the fight against corruption

Graft concerns overshadow COVID-19 relief fund. “Antigraft activists have called on the (Indonesian) government to be transparent in the disbursement of the recently unveiled Rp 405.1 trillion (US$24.68 billion) COVID-19 economic stimulus in order to avoid the pitfalls of past corruption cases in 2008 and in 1998.” 

 

Moch. Fiqih Prawira Adjie / The Jakarta Post: https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/04/11/graft-concerns-overshadow-covid-19-relief-fund.html 

 

 

Graft fear for B1.97tn virus aid. “Thailand's 1.97 trillion baht plan to mitigate against a further economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic has raised concerns over the potential for embezzlement as large sums of money change hands between the government, businesses and local villages.” 

 

Bangkok Post: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1898340/graft-fear-for-b1-97tn-virus-aid 

 

 

The lessons Portugal could learn from Singapore in the fight against corruption (Opinion). “Portugal is ranked the 31st least corrupt country out of 180 countries and territories. While less corrupt than the likes of Israel, South Korea, Italy and Greece, Portugal is viewed as having a bigger problem than countries such as Hong Kong, Estonia, Bhutan and Chile. Germany is ninth, the UK 12th and France 23rd. But how serious a problem is corruption to an economy?” 

 

Anthony Beachey / Portugal resident: https://www.portugalresident.com/the-lessons-portugal-could-learn-from-singapore-in-the-fight-against-corruption/