Myanmar anti-corruption progress / India dynastic corruption / Bhutan legal interpretation

Corruption is still rooted in many places: Anti-Corruption Commission.  ““The [Myanmar Anti-corruption] commission has steadfastly fought corruption that is rampant across the country for over the past three years. But only a few places saw corruption stop whereas it is still rampant in many parts of the country as ever as before,” the chairman said…He stressed the need for the government, out of political goodwill, to lead the fight against corruption in order to realize the anti-corruption millennium goals. He also called for inclusive participation when work committees are formed.”

Zaw Min Naing/Eleven Media Group: https://elevenmyanmar.com/news/corruption-is-still-rooted-in-many-places-anti-corruption-commission  

 

Dynastic corruption is a challenge to progress: PM Modi.  “Inaugurating the three-day National Conference on Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, organised by the Central Bureau of Investigation, Mr. Modi said ineffective action against one generation of offenders emboldened the next generation to indulge more in corrupt practices.”

The Hindu: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/dynastic-corruption-is-a-challenge-to-progress-pm/article32957305.ece  

 

Institutional obstruction to fight corruption (Opinion).  “The current interpretation of [Bhutan’s Section 167(1), of the ACC Act on suspending public officials under investigation if they are “likely to impede the investigation”], by institutions may lead to abuse of right to appeal by the individual officials to buy time...[which] is useful for the officials as they can occupy their current position till the final decision,”

Sonam Tshering/Kuensel: https://kuenselonline.com/institutional-obstruction-to-fight-corruption/

Anti-corruption trend lessons / Pakistan uprooting corruption / Indonesia KPK recruits

What can we learn from trends in corruption and anticorruption? (Blog).  “Even if the average trend in reducing administrative corruption has been in the right direction, it is not universal…The urgency of the response to COVID-19 exacerbates these challenges even further…Still, knowing that anticorruption reforms can lead to results is encouraging and shows the usefulness of looking deeper, as the case studies in the volume do”

Jim Anderson/World Bank: https://blogs.worldbank.org/governance/what-can-we-learn-trends-corruption-and-anticorruption

 

Uprooting corruption (Opinion).  “In Bangladesh, it was the Supreme Court that abolished the feudal system and paved the way for democracy. The Supreme Court of Pakistan in consultation with the present civil and military leadership needs to take suo-motu notice of our system of governance before it is too late”

Atta-Ur-Rahman/The News: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/735719-uprooting-corruption  

 

KPK seeks 100 new investigators to boost graft-busting power.  Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK)”law enforcement deputy Karyoto said that the new investigators would be employed in the agency’s three sections, namely preliminary probe, investigation and prosecution, while some would also be assigned as asset-tracking specialists.”

Moch. Fiqih Prawira Adjie/The Jakarta Post: https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/10/23/kpk-seeks-100-new-investigators-to-boost-graft-busting-power.html

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/

New Kickback podcast / Malaysia sustainability audit / Indonesia construction corruption

New Podcast Episode, Featuring James Wasserstrom (Part 2) (Blog/Podcast).  “Mr. Wasserstrom discusses his work as a special advisor on anticorruption issues at the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan…[and] talks about the importance of anticorruption work in ensuring stability and security, the challenges he faced in convincing senior military and diplomatic officials of the need to take corruption seriously, and why it’s important, in situations like Afghanistan, to adopt a “zero tolerance” approach to corruption and to use strict conditionalities on aid”

Matthew Stephenson/The Global Anticorruption Blog: https://globalanticorruptionblog.com/2020/10/21/new-podcast-episode-featuring-james-wasserstrom-part-2/  

 

Ex-FGV Holdings senior GM charged over RM10,000 bribe.  “[Norazam Abdul Hameed,] former senior general manager of FGV Holdings Bhd was charged in the Sessions Court…with agreeing to accept RM10,000 (approx. US$ 2,400)…to recommend a company for audit work to obtain the International Sustainability Carbon Certification (ISCC) for FGV Palm Industries Sdn Bhd.”

Free Malaysia Today: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2020/10/20/ex-fgv-holdings-senior-gm-charged-over-rm10000-bribe/  

 

West Sumatra District Head Gets Four Years’ Imprisonment for Graft.  “South Solok District Head Muzni Zakaria was found guilty of taking bribe in infrastructure projects in the district…He has accepted nearly Rp 3 billion (approx. US$204,000) in kickbacks from businessmen involved in the construction of the Ambayan Bridge and the Grand Mosque in the district,”

Fana Suparman/Jakarta Globe: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/west-sumatra-district-head-gets-four-years-imprisonment-for-graft  

Tech for procurement / India CBI mandates / AIIB's transparency deficit

Disrupting corruption in government purchases in ASEAN (Opinion).  “If policymakers, practitioners, business leaders and citizens are ultimately successful in matching the new generation of technologies...with the ultimate goal of maximizing social benefit through the reduction…of corruption, this could make all the difference to the lives…of men and women in…socities worldwide.”  

Brook Horowitz and Mark Lovatt/The Jakarta Post: https://www.thejakartapost.com/paper/2020/10/22/disrupting-corruption-in-government-purchases-in-asean.html

 

Maharashtra Ends Blanket Consent To CBI Probes In Clash Over Ratings Case.  “The Maharashtra [state] government's move also comes hours after the [Central Bureau of Investigation] filed a case to investigate the ratings scam on the basis of a complaint filed in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh.”

NDTV: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/maharashtra-withdraws-blanket-consent-to-cbi-to-probe-cases-in-the-state-2313870  

 

The AIIB’s Transparency Deficit (Opinion).  “Transparency and public participation are paramount in mitigating the environmental and social risks of large-scale infrastructure projects. But the Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank [AIIB] is not heeding the message, even as the climate emergency and irreversible biodiversity loss reach critical levels.”

Korinna Horta and Wawa Wang/Project Syndicate: https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/asian-infrastructure-investment-bank-environmental-social-risks-by-korinna-horta-and-wawa-wang-2020-10  

Pacific Anti-Corruption Updates (24 October 2020): Solomon Islands, Fiji

SOLOMON ISLANDS:

Anti-corruption Body Appoints Director General. The Solomon Islands Independent Commission against Corruption, SIICAC, has a first appointed Director General. He is John Hugani Koun.

https://www.solomontimes.com/news/anticorruption-body-appoints-director-general/10352

 

FIJI :

Fiji's NFP leader investigated by anti-corruption body. Fiji's anti-corruption commission is investigating the leader of the opposition National Federation Party.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/428530/fiji-s-nfp-leader-investigated-by-anti-corruption-body

Man convicted of bribery awaits fate. A former tax officer with Fiji Revenue and Customs Service (FRCS) was convicted of bribery by the Suva Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

https://www.fijitimes.com/man-convicted-of-bribery-awaits-fate/

Former official and company executive deny corruption-related charges. A former public official and a former private company executive who are facing corruption-related charges pleaded not guilty at the Suva Magistrates Court today.

https://www.fijitimes.com/former-official-and-company-executive-deny-corruption-related-charges/

UNODC Anti-Corruption Newsletter / China's Gilded Age podcast / China and India e-government anti-corruption

UNODC Anti-Corruption Newsletter: Southeast Asia June-September 2020.  Follow UNODC's work over the past quarter, ranging from an analysis of beneficial ownership in Southeast Asia, a study of corruption risks in COVID-19 emergency packages,to corruption investigation training in Viet Nam.

Direct link to the beneficial ownership analysis: https://bit.ly/3dOPQxF

Direct link to the COVID-19 emergency package study: https://bit.ly/37sehzO

UNODC: https://mailchi.mp/d9fbe1216672/unodc-corruption-newsletter-3310518  

 

China's Gilded Age (Podcast).  "Professor Yuen Yuen Ang joins Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Anna Szymanski to discuss her book China's Gilded Age: The Paradox of Economic Boom and Vast Corruption and how it relates to China and the United States."

Yuen Yuen Ang, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Anna Szymanski/Slate Money: https://slate.com/podcasts/slate-money/2020/10/china-corruption-economy 

 

Public sector innovation, e‐government, and anticorruption in China and India: Insights from civil servants (Journal Article).  "Distinctive from their traditional anticorruption approaches, is the innovative e‐government approach an effective solution to corruption in these two large developing countries?... What is worth noting is that the Chinese respondents were more positive regarding the role of transparency, whereas the Indian respondents were more positive about the role of technology, which may reflect the different facilitators of corruption and the constraints of anticorruption in China and India."

Alfred M. Wu, Yifei Yan, and Lina Vyas/Australian Journal of Public Administration: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1467-8500.12439