Malaysia business anti-corruption budget / Hong Kong fines Goldman / Peer review mechanisms analysis

MACC wants businesses to set aside funds to combat graft.  “The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has called for businesses to spend a fair amount of their annual budget on anti-corruption efforts. Chief commissioner Azam Baki said it was to ensure that the wealth generated by businesses were shared among the people and not only a few.”

Free Malaysia Today: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2020/10/20/macc-wants-businesses-to-set-aside-funds-to-combat-graft/  

 

Hong Kong fines Goldman Sachs record $350 million over 1MDB failings.  “Hong Kong’s markets watchdog…fined Goldman Sachs’s Asian business $350 million for its role in Malaysia’s multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal, the largest single fine ever levied by the regulator in the Asian financial hub… In July, Goldman agreed to pay $3.9 billion to settle Malaysia’s criminal probe and [recently it agreed] to pay more than $2 billion to settle U.S. charges over its role in the scandal.”

Alun John/Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/article/goldman-sachs-1mdb-hong-kong/hong-kong-fines-goldman-sachs-record-350-million-over-1mdb-failings-idUSKBN27717P

 

FACTI Background Paper: Analysis of the Different Peer Review Mechanisms for Ensuring Compliance with Anticorruption and Financial Integrity Norms (Blog).  “Peer review is the most prevalent international monitoring instrument in financial integrity matters…[from] combating terrorist financing to fighting corruption…[It] is used to evaluate states’ policy practices…Based on an analysis of the six peer reviews identified above, we distinguish between challenges that stem from institutional factors (i.e., the design and functioning of a peer review) and domestic factors.”

Richard Messick/The Global Anticorruption Blog: https://globalanticorruptionblog.com/2020/10/22/facti-background-paper-analysis-of-the-different-peer-review-mechanisms-for-ensuring-compliance-with-anticorruption-and-financial-integrity-norms/