NewsBin - Global Anti-Corruption

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Legal Strategies for Anticorruption Litigation by Civil Society

By Ken Hurwitz, Senior Legal Officer, Anticorruption, the Open Society Justice Initiative

Those of us working with civil society groups that seek to combat transnational grand corruption have what might be called a love-hate relationship with the law. Yes, sometimes we can push magistrates and prosecutors to hold perpetrators to account, provided the right conditions are met. But at the same time we too often see existing law and law enforcement mechanisms protecting those responsible for high-level corruption: bribing business actors, self-dealing kleptocrats, and the financial, legal and business intermediaries who often profit from and facilitate the crime.

Read more: http://globalanticorruptionblog.com/2016/02/17/legal-strategies-for-anticorruption-litigation-by-civil-society/

International Tax, Transparency, and Finance for Development: A Short Guide for the Perplexed

In the search for sustainable sources of finance for development, the potential for developing countries to collect more domestic revenues from taxation has risen to prominence in recent years. International tax evasion and avoidance and the role of tax havens have been raised as critical barriers, and transparency is often advocated as a key solution. This briefing offers a short outline of the key issues, terms, and numbers involved.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Ethical Alliance Daily News (16 Feb 2016)

Australia: Ultranet corruption inquiry: Education Department officials did not declare conflict of interest, IBAC hearing told

Published on Feb 16, 2016 06:30 pm

WSJ - Corruption Currents: The $100 Million Whistleblower (16 Feb 2016)

Wall Street Journal - Corruption Currents: The $100 Million Whistleblower (16 Feb 2016). By Samuel Rubenfeld. http://blogs.wsj.com/riskandcompliance/2016/02/16/corruption-currents-the-100-million-whistleblower/

Friday, February 12, 2016

A Behavioral Science Approach to Preventing Corruption

"Some of our current approaches to corruption prevention perform badly. One reason is that many preventive methods are built on distrust towards officials and employees, who are seen as potentially corrupt actors. Yet research in behavioral science has provided us with impressive evidence that (many) people are (mostly) trustworthy, intrinsically motivated, and responsive to encouragement, praise, expressions of gratitude, and criticism. The problem with assuming that everyone is prone to engage in corruption if not carefully monitored is not only that prevention strategies premised on that assumption are very costly, but also that such approaches can be counterproductive: The atmosphere of distrust that they create can reduce interpersonal trust, intrinsic motivation, and the self-esteem that people get from contributing to public goods and working responsibly."

Read the full article by Johann Graf Lambsdorff, Professor of Economic Theory at Passau University: http://globalanticorruptionblog.com/2016/02/11/guest-post-a-behavioral-science-approach-to-preventing-corruption/

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Daily Corruption News from Transparency International (10 February 2016)

10 February 2016

Today's top story

Ukraine: IMF warns Ukraine it will halt $40bn bailout unless corruption stops
The Guardian
The International Monetary Fund has warned it will halt its $40bn (£28bn) bailout programme to Ukraine unless the conflict-torn eastern European country takes immediate action to tackle corruption.

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