Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Philippines debt fears / Corruption risk survey / Korea ombudsman event

Build, build, build and corruption (editorial). "Naysayers are creating a ruckus saying President Rodrigo Duterte's P8.4-trillion Dutertenomics of 'Build, build, build' will shackle the country in debt for generations to come."

Sun Star Davao: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/opinion/2017/05/16/editorial-build-build-build-and-corruption-542310

Survey: Companies losing business to corruption risk. More companies are choosing to cease business with certain partners, while others say they’ve lost business over the last year, because of corruption risk, finds a recent global anti-corruption survey.

Jaclyn Jaeger/Compliance Week: https://www.complianceweek.com/blogs/the-filing-cabinet/survey-companies-losing-business-to-corruption-risk-0

Korea anti-corruption body hosts global ombudsman events. Officials at Asia's ombudsman organizations have been sharing their experiences and discussing ways to bolster cooperation in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province.

Yi Whan-woo/The Korea Times: https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2017/05/120_229433.html

Monday, May 22, 2017

Malaysia initiative / Singapore ISO / Australia donor plea

Malaysia launches new anti corruption initiative. Dzulkifli Ahmad, head of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), said MACC has launched the Anti-Corruption Revolution Movement (Gerah) a new initiative to enhance the country’s fight against corruption by creating major and drastic changes in Malaysian people, ensuring they see corruption as their number one enemy.

Vietnam Plus: http://en.vietnamplus.vn/malaysia-launches-new-anti-corruption-initiative/111352.vnp

Singapore Adopts ISO Standard on Anti-Bribery Management Systems. Singapore launched the Singapore Standard (SS) ISO 37001 on Anti-bribery management systems on 12 April 2017, following a public consultation from February to March 2016 on the adoption of the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO)'s new set of voluntary standards (designated as ISO 37001) for anti-bribery compliance.

Baker McKenzie/Lexology: http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=c7967097-c5b6-406d-a270-71d0de5a7434

Donor urges Chinese Aussies to help hunt corruption suspects. Sydney businessman Huang Xiangmo, a prominent political donor who previously paid a legal bill for Labor senator Sam Dastyari, has urged Chinese-Australians to help the superpower hunt down a prominent corruption suspect.

Primrose Riordan/The Australian: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/foreign-affairs/donor-urges-chinese-aussies-to-help-hunt-corruption-suspects/news-story/4ef8033b3131713196fdb7db3c97e90d

Saturday, May 20, 2017

ESCAP survey / Bangladesh barrier / New U4 publication

Quality of governance affects development outcomes, reveals UN ESCAP survey. The survey finds that better governance and effective fiscal management in Asia-Pacific not only can improve long-term economic prospects, but also facilitate in grappling with social and environmental concerns.

Daily Mirror: http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/Quality-of-governance-affects-development-outcomes-reveals-UN-ESCAP-survey-128621.html

Bangladesh's top graft-buster says bureaucracy is biggest barrier. Anti-corruption Commission Chief Iqbal Mahmud has identified the bureaucracy as the 'biggest problem' in the battle against graft.

bdnews24: http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2017/05/09/bangladesh-s-top-graft-buster-says-bureaucracy-is-biggest-barrier

Publication available: Bespoke Monitoring and Evaluation of Anti-Corruption Agencies (U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre at Chr. Michelsen Institute). This U4 Brief, which draws largely on the 2011 U4 Issue How to Monitor and Evaluate Anti-Corruption Agencies: Guidelines for Agencies, Donors, and Evaluators (Johnsøn et al. 2011), provides reflection and guidance on how to fairly measure the results achieved by anti-corruption agencies (ACAs) and how to learn from and act on these findings.

Sofie Arjon Schütte, PhD, Senior Advisor, U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre CMI (Chr. Michelsen Institute): http://www.u4.no/publications/bespoke-monitoring-and-evaluation-of-anti-corruption-agencies/

Nigeria’s Whistleblowing Policy: A Good Start, But Not Enough

On December 21, 2016, Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Finance approved a whistleblowing program as part of the Nigerian government’s continued efforts to fight corruption. Key features of the program include the launch of an online portal for submission of tips and the establishment of a reward for “information that directly leads to the voluntary return of stolen or concealed public funds or assets” (the reward is 2.5 to 5% of the amount recovered, with the percentage decreasing as the amounts recovered increases). As over $176 million in stolen funds was recovered within the first two months of the program, the whistleblowing policy appears to be an overnight success story. Nevertheless, although stolen funds are indeed being recovered, the existing policy does not do enough to offset the risks that whistleblowers face when they come forward with information, and this deficiency may limit the long-term effectiveness of the program. In particular, there are three aspects of the program that the government ought to reform in order to encourage individuals to assume the risks associated with becoming a whistleblower, and consequently to ensure the policy’s continued success.

Read the full post: https://globalanticorruptionblog.com/2017/05/19/nigerias-whistleblowing-policy-a-good-start-but-not-enough/

Ethical Alliance Daily News

United States: ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ Producer in Talks to Settle 1MDB Suit
May 19, 2017 08:00 pm

The producer of “The Wolf of Wall Street” is in talks with the U.S. Justice Department to settle a lawsuit alleging the movie was funded by money siphoned from a Malaysian state investment fund, 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB). Lawyers for...

Brazil: Brazil’s stock market plunges after corruption claims
May 19, 2017 07:30 pm

Brazil’s Bovespa stock market was briefly halted as investors reacted to corruption allegations against Brazilian President Michel Temer. Stocks plunged more than 10% at the start of trading, prompting circuit breakers to kick in and halt dealings. President Temer was...

Asia: Soccer: New head of integrity asks AFC to probe Lai charges
May 19, 2017 07:00 pm

Newly appointed independent Head of Integrity Mohammad Ali Al Kamali has asked the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to probe circumstances surrounding the prosecution of suspended official Richard Lai, the governing body said on Wednesday. “The allegations contained in Richard Lai’s...

Malta: Transparency International warns: Corruption scandals cast shadow on Malta’s EU presidency’
May 19, 2017 06:30 pm

Corruption scandals have engulfed the government and are now casting a shadow over the island’s EU presidency, Transparency International has warned. The compilers of the Corruption Perception Index told the Times of Malta yesterday they were following the political developments...

Tanzania: Tanzania freezes assets of anti-graft official over suspected corruption
May 19, 2017 06:00 pm

Tanzania’s anti-graft watchdog said on Thursday it had frozen the assets of its chief accountant and planned to charge him with corruption, part of an aggressive anti-graft drive in which thousands of officials have already lost their jobs. President John...

China: Former senior Jiangsu official sentenced to four years for bribery, illegal foreign exchange purchase
May 19, 2017 05:30 pm

Zhao Shaolin, a former provincial-level official in east China’s Jiangsu Province, was sentenced by a court in Zhejiang Province to four years in prison Thursday for graft and illegally purchasing foreign exchange. Zhao, a former member of the standing committee...

Corruption in the news this week

Spain in focus

Spain: Spain’s never-ending corruption problem
Politico (18 May)Spanish institutions have failed to prevent graft. Its judges are trying to clean up the mess.

Spain: Spain urged to deal with systemic corruption by international watchdog
The Olive Press (19 May, TI mention)Transparency International have slammed Spain for its ‘systemic corruption’.

Thursday, May 18, 2017

Transparency International - Daily Corruption News - 17 May 2017

Daily Corruption News
17 May 2017

Today's top story

Australia: Miners BHP Billiton, Woodside, Orica warn investments at risk from proposed foreign bribery laws
Sydney Morning Herald (TI mention)
Mining giants BHP Billiton, Woodside and Orica have warned the federal government against going too far in strengthening Australia's foreign bribery laws, saying it could put local companies at risk and prevent them from taking up new investments overseas.