Global Policy, Corruption, Economic Crimes, Fronting, Whistleblowers
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Global Policy, Corruption, Economic Crimes, Fronting, Whistleblowers
“(1) In its resolution 55/61 of 4 December 2000, the General Assembly recognized that an effective international legal instrument against corruption, independent of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (resolution 55/25, annex I) was desirable and decided to establish an ad hoc committee for the negotiation of such an instrument in Vienna at the headquarters of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The text of the United Nations Convention against Corruption was negotiated during seven sessions of the Ad Hoc Committee for the Negotiation of the Convention against Corruption, held between 21 January 2002 and 1 October 2003. The Convention approved by the Ad Hoc Committee was adopted by the General Assembly by resolution 58/4 of 31 October 2003. The General Assembly, in its resolution 57/169 of 18 December 2002, accepted the offer of the Government of Mexico to host a high-level political signing conference in Merida for the purpose of signing the United Nations Convention against Corruption. In accordance with article 68 (1) of resolution 58/4, the United Nations Convention against Corruption entered into force on 14 December 2005. A Conference of the States Parties is established to review implementation and facilitate activities required by the Convention.

(2) First International Forum on Tax and Crime ∙ Oslo ∙ 21-23 March 2011. Issues related to greater inter-agency co-operation were discussed by more than 150 delegates from 54 delegations who participated in the first tax and crime forum on 21-23 March 2011 in Oslo hosted by the Norwegian government. The conference brought together representatives from a range of OECD and non-OECD governmental agencies, including Tax Administrations, Finance and Justice Ministries, Financial Intelligence Units, Central Banks, FATF, International Organisations, as well as business and NGOs. Second International Forum on Tax and Crime ∙ Rome ∙ 14-15 June 2012. This Forum brought together senior policy makers from different government agencies including the tax, anti-money laundering and anti-corruption communities, as well as private sector representatives, NGOs and other interested stakeholders. Participants examined best practice approaches to closer inter-agency co-operation at the domestic level and explore how to improve international cooperation. The conference also showcased specific key risks in the tax and crime area, allowing countries to target resources and learn from the experience of others. Building on previous events in Oslo and Rome, the Third Forum on Tax and Crime provided an opportunity for senior government officials from tax and customs administrations, anti-money laundering and anti‑corruption authorities, police and law enforcement, public prosecutors, financial regulators and government Ministries, as well as international organisations and NGOs, to discuss current issues and country experiences on key policy and operational topics in combating all forms of financial crime.

(3) The 4th Joint African Union Commission/United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (AUC/ECA) Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development was held in 2011. This Conference mandated ECA to establish the High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa. Illicit financial flows out of Africa have become a matter of major concern because of the scale and negative impact of such flows on Africa’s development and governance agenda.  By some estimates, illicit flows from Africa could be as much as US $50 billion per annum. This is approximately double the official development assistance (ODA) that Africa receives and, indeed, the estimate may well be short of reality as accurate data does not exist for all transactions and for all African countries.

Fronting means a deliberate circumvention or attempted circumvention of the South African B-BBEE Act and the Codes. Fronting commonly involves reliance on data or claims of compliance based on misrepresentations of facts, whether made by the party claiming compliance or by any other person. Verification agencies, and /or procurement officers and relevant decision-makers may come across fronting indicators through their interactions with measured entities. The B-BBEE Commission may also approach a court of law to restrain any breach or for any appropriate remedial relief, which may include setting aside the transaction or initiative. The B-BBEE Commission will not discuss the merit or the details of its investigative process, but the findings will be published as required in the B-BBEE Act.
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September 26, 2014 3:32 PM

Investment Firms Must Manage Corruption Risk in Africa

Investment Firms Must Manage Corruption Risk in Africa | Global Policy, Corruption, Economic Crimes, Fronting, Whistleblowers | Scoop.it
With greater enforcement of anti-corruption regulations in the U.S., investment firms would do well to implement comprehensive corruption risk management programs.
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September 11, 2014 1:05 PM

Corruption is the price of Empire

Corruption is the price of Empire | Global Policy, Corruption, Economic Crimes, Fronting, Whistleblowers | Scoop.it

Via ThePlanetaryArchives/BlackHorseMedia - San Francisco
KROTOASA RESEARCH-INTENSIVE INSTITUTE (KRII)'s insight:


Aside from the brazen corruption of the CGD/Norway relationship, the report focuses on three other Washington DC biggies: the Atlantic Council, the Brookings Institution, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, all of which receive substantial chunks of cash from rich overseas donors, primarily from the Middle East, Europe, and the Far East. For example, the Times notes:

"The United Arab Emirates, a major supporter of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), quietly provided a donation of more than $1 million to help build the center’s gleaming new glass and steel headquarters not far from the White House. Qatar, the small but wealthy Middle East nation, agreed last year to make a $14.8 million, four-year donation to Brookings, which has helped fund a Brookings affiliate in Qatar and a project on United States relations with the Islamic world."


CSIS was a major supporter of the Iraq war (both of them), as were the Gulf sheikdoms that have been funneling money into it: CSIS has also been a major bulwark of the War Party when it comes to Iran.

Brookings, the grand old man of Washington thinktanks, denies all that cash has any meaning as far as its "product" is concerned, but it’s hard to take this seriously when it publishes papers like this and sponsors events like this one, where Qatar’s funding of extremist groups like ISIS and other radical Syrian rebel factions is downplayed in favor of putting the onus on Kuwait. Qatar has been a major backer of the decidedly non-"moderate" wing of the Syrian rebel movement, and while Brookings has published writers skeptical of the idea of arming and/or funding them, a bit of research shows that their overwhelming bias has been pro-rebel, e.g. "Arm the Syrian Rebels. Now."


Brookings has also been a major source of pro-Israel propaganda in the United States via their Saban Center for Middle East Policy. Funded by Haim Saban, an Israeli-American television and film producer – originator of the "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" – whose wealth is estimated at $3 billion, the Saban Center has consistently supported the Israeli party line and acted as a "nonpartisan" complement to AIPAC’s Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Quite naturally, the Saban Center’s Kenneth Pollack was a major supporter of the Iraq war amongst the policy wonk crowd.


Dual Israeli-American citizen Saban makes no bones about the goal of his giving: he has said that his number one priority in giving money to thinktanks like Brookings is to "strengthen the US-Israeli relationship." As a New Yorker profile of Saban put it, he counts "three ways to be influential in American politics": "make donations to political parties, establish think tanks, and control media outlets." Saban owns Univision and has repeatedly tried to buy the Los Angeles Times. He is also one of the top donors to the Democratic party, and will no doubt be a major contributor to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.


At a recent Brookings Institution dinner, Saban engaged in a "two-cheeked kiss" with Qatari Prime Minister Jaber Al Thani. What unites these two somewhat disparate figures is their fulsome financial support for Brookings, which – like any whore – sells its services to the highest bidder.


While Brookings, one of Washington’s most established courtesans, charges higher prices, and thus relies on high-rollers like Qatar and Saban, the relatively new Atlantic Council takes the quantitative approach: the Times reports the Council has accepted donations from at least 25 countries since 2008." Among the donors: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Hungary, the Czechs, the Slovaks, Sweden, Luxembourg, and the United Kingdom. This donor list isn’t surprising: the Atlantic Council, as befits its name, is NATO’s unofficial lobbyist in Washington. It has been particularly militant around the Ukraine issue, pushing the NATO-crat party line that the fascist coup leaders in Kiev are really Jeffersonian democrats and stoking the embers of the cold war.


CSIS, long a mainstay of interventionist policymaking, actually posted a list of the governments that have filled its coffers, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, NATO – and the United States of America! Yes, your tax dollars are going to fund the efforts of CSIS co-director and senior fellow Thomas Sanderson and CSIS "Transnational Threats" head honcho Arnaud de Borchgrave in their efforts to torpedo a possible peace agreement with Iran. We don’t know how much Uncle Sam doles out to CSIS because they refuse to divulge specific amounts – and of course we peons have no right to know.


The extent of the problem of foreign governments buying up American thinktanks like house flippers buy up foreclosures is bigger than even I imagined. As the Times puts it:

"The scope of foreign financing for American think tanks is difficult to determine. But since 2011, at least 64 foreign governments, state-controlled entities or government officials have contributed to a group of 28 major United States-based research organizations, according to disclosures by the institutions and government documents.


What little information the organizations volunteer about their donors, along with public records and lobbying reports filed with American officials by foreign representatives, indicates a minimum of $92 million in contributions or commitments from overseas government interests over the last four years. The total is certainly more."

As Todd Moss, COO of CGD, said "after being shown dozens of pages of emails between his organization and the government of Norway": "Yikes"!


The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which requires foreign lobbyists to register and report their activities to the federal government, has never been enforced except selectively: US allies are given a free pass, and the "foreign aid" gravy train flows freely and fast. This makes perfect sense, given our status as a global empire on which the sun never sets: our foreign clients and protectorates are constantly begging for handouts, intervention against their enemies, and special economic privileges of one sort or another, and the government would no more shut down this profitable industry than it would voluntarily dismantle the Empire itself.


NATO’s eastern European members want US troops and bases on their soil, ostensibly to "protect" against the nonexistent threat of a Russian invasion – and it’s only natural for them to go running to the Atlantic Council to lobby on their behalf. Qatar wants US aid to Syria’s extremist rebels – and off they go to their bought-and-paid-for "scholars" at Brookings to write policy papers and sponsor events pushing US intervention in the Syrian snake-pit.

Corruption – there is no other word for the buying of America’s thinktanks by rich foreigners – is part of the price we pay for our empire. It won’t stop until we return to our roots as a republic that "seeks honest friendship with all nations – entangling alliances with none."

AHT/HRJ

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September 11, 2014 9:53 AM

Member of Fifa’s financial watchdog arrested on suspicion of corruption and money-laundering

Member of Fifa’s financial watchdog arrested on suspicion of corruption and money-laundering | Global Policy, Corruption, Economic Crimes, Fronting, Whistleblowers | Scoop.it
KROTOASA RESEARCH-INTENSIVE INSTITUTE (KRII)'s insight:
Canover Watson is vice-president of the Caribbean Football Union and has denied the allegations after being arrested in the Cayman Islands


One of the eight members of FIFA's financial watchdog has been arrested by police on suspicion of corruption and money-laundering.

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September 11, 2014 8:50 AM

Victoria's corruption body lacks ICAC's bite

Victoria's corruption body lacks ICAC's bite | Global Policy, Corruption, Economic Crimes, Fronting, Whistleblowers | Scoop.it
KROTOASA RESEARCH-INTENSIVE INSTITUTE (KRII)'s insight:


It is high time for both the Victorian government and the opposition to put their cards on the table: what proposals do they have for the reform of the legislation setting up Victoria's Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC)?

Before the last election in 2010 the then opposition proposed that, if elected, it would establish an IBAC that would be closely modelled on the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).  The proposal was that together with the Ombudsman and the Auditor-General, there would be seamless coverage of the range of Victoria's integrity issues.


The ICAC has broad powers to start an investigation. "Corrupt conduct" is defined in the ICAC Act as including any activity that could adversely affect directly or indirectly the exercise of official functions by a public official, together with a broad variety of particular offences.  The ICAC's jurisdiction is very widely expressed and it  is entitled to investigate "any allegation or complaint that, or any circumstances which, in the Commissioner's opinion imply that … corrupt conduct … may have occurred, may be occurring or may be about to occur." 


The ICAC is plainly entitled to investigate an allegation amounting to misconduct in public office, including by a minister.  The ICAC is also required, as far as practicable, to direct its attention to serious and systematic corrupt conduct.

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The ICAC's powers to commence investigations are so widely expressed that the entitlement to investigate upon suspicion of corruption is for practical purposes unlimited. This in turn makes it very difficult for an investigated party to obstruct or delay an investigation by launching court proceedings for an injunction.  At the same time, however, adequate monitoring systems and safeguards are in place.


By contrast, the IBAC legislation contains a very narrow definition of "corrupt conduct". It is further limited by the phrase "being conduct that would, if the facts were found proved beyond reasonable doubt at a trial, constitute a relevant offence".  "Relevant offence" too is very narrowly defined, including only "an indictable offence against an Act" and three specific common law offences committed in Victoria. 


Misconduct in public office is not an included offence. The IBAC Act then adds that "The IBAC must not conduct an investigation … unless it is reasonably satisfied that the conduct is serious corrupt conduct".  At the same time the Act repeats the monitoring systems and safeguards of the ICAC Act.


As soon as the wording of the IBAC legislation became known, there was repeated criticism. It was said the IBAC would not be able to investigate a complaint unless it was able to articulate those facts that, if proved beyond reasonable doubt, would constitute one of the narrow range of relevant offences and also constitute serious corrupt conduct.  And the legal history of NSW's ICAC has shown that well-funded suspects will seize any opportunity to challenge and delay an inquiry of this kind.

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September 11, 2014 8:39 AM

It's hard to keep abreasted when wallowing in corruption

It's hard to keep abreasted when wallowing in corruption | Global Policy, Corruption, Economic Crimes, Fronting, Whistleblowers | Scoop.it

"

KROTOASA RESEARCH-INTENSIVE INSTITUTE (KRII)'s insight:


English is full of surprises. Take the verb to abreast; past tense, abreasted. As in "I will chase him up next week and keep you abreasted of the outcome."

It could easily be a gag from Rob Sitch's nation-building satire Utopia, currently on ABC1. In fact, it was penned in all seriousness, July 2010, by Paul Nicolaou, then chief Liberal Party fund-raiser to the then treasurer to the federal party and former NSW minister Michael Yabsley. The "him" is Meriton's Harry Triguboff, the sum is $50K and the outcome is positive, for the party. Not for the state.


Abreasted. The Independent Commission Against Corruption inhabits one of Sydney's ugliest buildings, the dog food pink Piccadilly Centre. When I bowled up there on Monday, Yabsley was on the stand and Utopia in my mind.

I figured to catch some of the ICAC clown parade before it ended. Needn't have worried. Operation Spicer is never short on material. The Liberal Party and its myriad consorts and consultants are suffering epidemic amnesia. Yet every question Geoffrey Watson, SC, asks, every evasion his victims offer – each memory lapse, buck pass, contradiction and denial – seems to make the hole wider and deeper.


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It's like watching them dig the Super Pit beside Kalgoorlie. If the hole gets any bigger, you feel, the entire above-ground operation of Australian political life could just disappear right into it.

People had exhorted me to watch Utopia as "the perfect satire on development culture". Especially, they loved episode four, Onward and Upward, in which our Nation Building office-bunnies give genial developer Nathan West 65 storeys in a five-storey riverfront zone.

With ruthless precision, Sitch skewers the banality of office life, the hypocrisy of politics, the cowardice-ladder of public service and the sheer, breathtaking incompetence of government. On all this, Utopia is so accurate it hurts.


But still, I sensed, something was missing from Sitch's depiction of Australia's nation-building catastrophe, some key ingredient underplayed. Mr Yabsley squirmed under Mr Watson's gentle caramelising blowtorch and wondered what it was.

The next day Barry O'Farrell articulated it for me. Truth lurks in the denials. "I don't know who the big man is," he said.

That may be so. Certainly O'Farrell reads to me – as Bob Carr did in the 1990s – as the clean face of a grubby administration. But he fingered it all the same. Big Man culture.


Of course not all men are corrupt, not even all those before the ICAC. Equally, not all women are pure – although in truth they seldom pop up in the clown show and are even less frequently implicated.

But NSW corruption is an unmistakably blokey affair. As deputy chairwoman of the Newcastle Alliance Tracy McKelligott told the ICAC last month, Club 13 – and its spin-off 6.5 – was made up of "very, very influential men" but what they did "I don't know because I'm not a male …"


This is tribal. Big Man Culture excludes females because its core axiom is that might is right. The might could be money, or power or sheer force of personality, but the fact that it is humanity's default position makes it worse, not better, since the default only comes into play in the absence of civilisation. This is Lord of the Flies territory.

The extent, tenacity, immunity and duration of the ICAC-revealed web are astounding. But what's really disturbing is the extent to which these plots and scams are bipartisan.


When the Newcastle Alliance raised money to fund a Q&A-style program on Newcastle in 2011 – which in itself is a bit weird – the only politician who agreed to participate was local member Jodi McKay. McKay was clearly still under the illusion that an open city-planning debate was a good thing. 


It was this (ridiculous, naive, utopian) idea that planning should be shaped around the good of the city as a whole that made McKay oppose Nathan Tinkler's coal loader. It led her to refuse Tinkler's alleged bribe, and so gave rise to the Tinkler-funded "Fed Up" campaign that cooked up false truck movement figures in order to discredit and destroy her.

There's a distinct locker-room reek to all this, a mateship as tight as the morality is sloppy. In NSW, we dismiss this as a kind of endearing larrikinism. But there's nothing endearing about expelling honest people from politics. Or about cleansing money to disguise the motivations that make honesty an impediment. There's nothing endearing about collusion and greed. This is not strength. It's weakness, simple if not pure.


The Free Enterprise Foundation, or FEF, seems to have become a money-washer to disguise Liberal Party donations. More recently, since the 2009 developer ban, it has had the singular side benefit of obliterating the money trail between banned donors and the NSW division.


ICAC documents show repeatedly how developer donations were channelled through the FEF. In Exhibit Z83, Nicolaou tells Yabsley: "Harry Triguboff… has agreed in principal [sic] to donate to us via the Free Enterprise Foundation. 50% to the national federal campaign and 50% to the NSW federal campaign." In Z86, former NSW planning minister Robert Webster instructs Austral Bricks to make cheques to the FEF, with a covering letter of instruction.

At the ICAC, Geoffrey Watson asks everyone to name a single instance when FEF money has not gone to the NSW Liberals when Nicolaou requested it. No one can.


So O'Farrell may have been legit. But the FEF money-cleansing machine was well oiled before the developer ban that premier Nathan Rees initiated and unabated after. 

I don't know about you but right now I'm going, lose the blokes. Jodi "not for sale" McKay for Premier. PM even. Uh, keep me abreasted of that, would you?

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September 11, 2014 8:31 AM

This is What Happens to “Good Cops” Who Expose Corruption in their Departments

This is What Happens to “Good Cops” Who Expose Corruption in their Departments | Global Policy, Corruption, Economic Crimes, Fronting, Whistleblowers | Scoop.it
KROTOASA RESEARCH-INTENSIVE INSTITUTE (KRII)'s insight:

A Baltimore City cop who attempted to hold his fellow officers accountable for on the job misconduct has been intimidated to the point of leaving the police force entirely.

Detective Joe Crystal became a target of intimidation for his entire department after testifying against other officers in a misconduct case.  Following his testimony, he received threats from other officers, and even found a dead rat on his car one day.

“He saw a wrong and decided he couldn’t live with himself and did the right thing and was punished, I think that’s just unbelievable,” Nicholas Panteleakis, Crystal’s lawyer said.

“They don’t care about anything but saving their money and saving their hide. It’s absolutely ridiculous with what this man has gone through. One, it lets the Baltimore City police know they were wrong, know that they’ve done numerous things against him that were wrong,” Panteleakis added.

Crystal has currently filed a lawsuit against the department for the intimidation that he has encountered, but the department has responded by opening up an investigation into Crystal’s activities while on duty.  In the course of their investigation, they accused Crystal of misusing his take home vehicle, stemming from a time where he took his wife home in the car.  The department then offered to drop their investigation if Crystal would drop his lawsuit against them, but he has refused.

The case is still ongoing, but this week Crystal turned in his badge to the department and will no longer be a member of the police force.

- See more at: http://xrepublic.tv/node/10339?__scoop_post=5aa69470-3890-11e4-e3c9-001018304b75&__scoop_topic=3383840#sthash.uXtAK6po.dpuf
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September 11, 2014 8:22 AM

Ray Nagin, corrupt ex-New Orleans mayor, to start jail sentence for corruption

Ray Nagin, corrupt ex-New Orleans mayor, to start jail sentence for corruption | Global Policy, Corruption, Economic Crimes, Fronting, Whistleblowers | Scoop.it
KROTOASA RESEARCH-INTENSIVE INSTITUTE (KRII)'s insight:


Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was due to report to federal prison on Monday to begin serving a 10-year sentence for corruption during the years when the city was struggling to recover from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.

Nagin, a Democrat, was thrust into the national spotlight in 2005, when Katrina overwhelmed levees and flooded 80 percent of New Orleans, killing 1,500 people and causing some $80 billion in damage.


He is due to serve his time at a federal prison in Texarkana, Texas, according to television station WDSU.

Nagin, 58, plans to appeal his conviction. He has said in court filings that he is nearly penniless, and has been granted a court-appointed lawyer.


The onetime cable company executive who served as New Orleans' mayor from 2002-2010 was convicted on 20 criminal counts including bribery, conspiracy and money laundering, all tied to payments he received for granting city contracts.

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September 11, 2014 8:17 AM

Dozens accused in Petrobras scandal

Dozens accused in Petrobras scandal | Global Policy, Corruption, Economic Crimes, Fronting, Whistleblowers | Scoop.it
KROTOASA RESEARCH-INTENSIVE INSTITUTE (KRII)'s insight:


Paulo Roberto Costa - who is in jail and being investigated for involvement in the alleged scheme - named a minister, governors and congressmen.

Among them were members of the governing Workers Party and groups which back President Dilma Rousseff.

But the names, published in a magazine, also included rivals of Ms Rousseff.


Many of the names were published in Veja, one of Brazil's leading magazines, just weeks before the presidential election in which Ms Rousseff is running for a second term in office.

Several politicians mentioned have denied involvement.

 Petrobras is one of the largest companies in the southern hemisphere

Mr Costa claimed that politicians received 3% commissions on the values of contracts signed with Petrobras when he was working there from 2004 to 2012.

He alleged that the scheme was used to buy support for the government in congressional votes.

Mr Costa was arrested in 2013. He is now in jail and struck a plea-bargain deal with prosecutors before giving the names.

Ahead of the election, Ms Rousseff's approval ratings have been slipping in opinion polls in favour of her rival, former Environment Minister Marina Silva.


The BBC's Wyre Davies in Rio de Janeiro says the latest allegations could hurt the incumbent further, as during her presidency Petrobras has dramatically underperformed and its costs have risen sharply.

It has become one of the world's most indebted oil companies and lost half of its market value in three years.

The BBC has requested a comment from Petrobras about the latest allegations and is awaiting a response.

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September 3, 2014 4:24 PM

FYI: Global Corruption Barometer 2013

KROTOASA RESEARCH-INTENSIVE INSTITUTE (KRII)'s insight:


Every day, all over the world, ordinary people bear the cost of corruption. In many countries, corruption affects people from birth until death. In Zimbabwe, women giving birth in a local hospital have been charged US$5 every time they scream as a penalty for raising false alarm.

1 In Bangladesh, the recent collapse of a multi-story factory, which killed more than 1,100 people due to a breach of basic safety standards, has been linked to allegations of corruption.

2 This report examines how corruption features in people’s lives around the world. Drawing on the results of a Transparency International survey of more than 114,000 respondents in 107 countries, it addresses people’s direct experiences with bribery and details their views on corruption in the main institutions in their countries. Significantly, Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer also provides insights into how willing and ready people are to act to stop corruption. The findings are clear: corruption is a very real burden, with more than one out of four respondents reporting having paid a bribe during the last year.


3 When people are not in a position to afford a bribe, they might be prevented from buying a home, starting a business or accessing basic services. Corruption can, and often does, infringe on fundamental rights. For those surviving on less than US$2 a day, and for women who are the primary caretakers of children around the globe, corruption and bribery are particularly devastating. For them, the additional cost of bribery can mean trade- offs are made between health and hunger, between school entrance fees and the shoes necessary to wear to school. Not only do people pay the costs of corruption directly, but their quality of life is also affected by less visible forms of corruption.


When powerful groups buy influence over government decisions or when public funds are diverted into the coffers of the political elite, ordinary people suffer. When there is widespread belief that corruption prevails and the powerful in particular are able to get away with it, people lose faith in those entrusted with power.

As the Global Corruption Barometer 2013 shows, corruption is seen to be running through the foundations of the democratic and legal process in many countries, affecting public trust in political parties, the judiciary and the police, among other key institutions. Importantly, however, the people surveyed around the world as a part of the Global Corruption Barometer do not view themselves as powerless victims of corruption.

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August 26, 2014 10:48 PM

Tackling Corruption for Growth and Development

Australia’s anti-corruption for development policy provides a framework for planning, resourcing, and reviewing anti-corruption activities on a country and reg…
KROTOASA RESEARCH-INTENSIVE INSTITUTE (KRII)'s insight:


Australia’s anti-corruption for development policy provides a framework for planning, resourcing, and reviewing anti-corruption activities on a country and regional basis. It has been developed in collaboration with a wide range of Australian government agencies and external stakeholders. The overall goal of Australia’s anti-corruption for development policy is: To assist developing countries bring about a sustainable reduction in corrupt behaviour for the purpose of improving economic and social development.


Australia’s approach to anti-corruption will focus on three mutually reinforcing elements: > Building constituencies for anti-corruption reform: Strong leadership is critical for successful anti-corruption efforts. Australia will assist institutions, groups and individuals that support good leadership. We will support the collection and dissemination of information about the costs of corruption. This will help mobilise support for anti-corruption reform efforts. > Reducing opportunities for corruption: Poor political governance provides greater scope for corrupt behaviour.


We will support initiatives that bolster transparency and accountability. Helping to improve budget processes, public financial management, and procurement systems makes corrupt activities more difficult to undertake and easier to identify and prosecute. Supporting the establishment and implementation of clear legislative and regulatory frameworks is another important way to reduce opportunities for corruption. > Changing incentives for corrupt behaviour: We will work with leaders, public officials and those in the private sector to discourage corruption. The timely investigation and prosecution of corrupt behaviour sends an important message that corruption will not be tolerated.


A professional, merit-based public service is also critical for the effective and honest operation of government systems and processes. The starting point for our work is support for the priorities and plans of partner countries to improve governance and tackle corruption. Long-term sustainability is most likely to be achieved through this partnership approach. Where such country-led strategies do not exist, Australia will support efforts to develop anti-corruption policies and plans. We will also build capacity and develop long- term institutional partnerships with partner governments through the placement of Australian government officials in public service positions or senior advisory roles.


Together with other bilateral agencies, multilateral donors, and regional and global organisations, we will help partners to target corruption better. Members of the business sector and civil society will also be important allies in putting this policy into practice.

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August 20, 2014 10:50 AM

Governance - OECD

Economic and Financial Crime
KROTOASA RESEARCH-INTENSIVE INSTITUTE (KRII)'s insight:


Governance


Economic and Financial Crime

 

Economic and financial crime is a major obstacle to development. Resources that could support a country’s development are lost through criminal acts like corruption, tax evasion, money laundering, and others. The “spoiler” effects on countries’ development processes are diverse, and particularly severe for fragile states: economic crime, including illicit financial flows, diverts much needed resources needed to rebuild countries’ public services, from security and justice to basic social services such as health and education.


Donors and developing countries alike face the challenge of tackling economic and financial crime. OECD’s Governance for Development and Peace Team (G4DP) focuses on the questions: How can donors address corruption and crime in their projects? How can developing countries reduce levels of economic crime and corruption? What are the best practices to implement effective anti-corruption policies?


Our work: The Anti-corruption Task Team

This forum brings together anti-corruption specialists from the development agencies of OECD countries. The OECD supports these experts in their work by conducting studies, developing tools, and organising meetings to share knowledge and experiences.


One work stream focuses on illicit financial flows, funds tied to illicit activity which leave developing countries through various channels. Statistics are contested and estimates of illicit financial flows vary. However, there is consensus that the scale of the problem is sufficient to represent a considerable negative influence on development, fiscal sustainability and governance. Illicit financial flows and other forms of illicit economic activity are mutually reinforcing, and empower those who operate outside of the law.

Over the long term, this work stream will study in more detail how illicit flows impact development and the policy implications for OECD member states and developing countries.


2013 flagship report: Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: Measuring OECD Responses

Illicit financial flows from developing countries are often hidden within OECD countries. This report, Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: Measuring OECD Responses, analyses the performance of OECD countries against the main international standards for countering illicit financial flows. It focuses on five policy areas: money laundering, tax evasion, foreign bribery, asset recovery and the role of donor agencies. It relies on publicly available data to compare how OECD countries respond to their responsibilities in implementing obstacles for the circulation of illicit funds. The report is the first to bring together such a synthesis of country performance across these related policy areas. The report presents recommendations on how OECD countries can tackle these issues and improve their own performance in these areas, as well as how to support developing countries in doing so.


Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: Measuring OECD Responses (brief)


Transnational organised crime and fragile states


International Drivers of Corruption: A Tool for Analysis


"Working towards common donor responses to corruption:



A collective donor response to corruption: Why does it matter and how to construct it?


Working towards more effective collective donor responses to corruption, Synthesis report and recommendations


Tracking Anti-Corruption and Asset Recovery Commitments: A Progress Report and Recommendations for Action

 

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August 20, 2014 10:07 AM

Responsible Business Conduct Matters

Responsible business conduct is an essential part of an open international investment climate. MNE activities often span multiple countries and many cultural, …
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August 20, 2014 9:48 AM

Global Forum on Responsible Business Conduct - OECD

Global Forum on Responsible Business Conduct - OECD | Global Policy, Corruption, Economic Crimes, Fronting, Whistleblowers | Scoop.it
KROTOASA RESEARCH-INTENSIVE INSTITUTE (KRII)'s insight:


Global Forum on Responsible Business Conduct


26-27 June 2014
OECD Conference Centre
Paris, France

WEBCAST

AGENDA DAY 1 

AGENDA DAY 2 

INFORMAL MINISTERIAL     

DOCUMENTS ‌‌

CONTACT 

EVENT PARTNERS

 

Ministerial communiqué by participants at the informal ministerial meeting on responsible business conduct‌ | version française

 

View Forum quote book on Slideshare


View selected Forum photos on Flickr


BLOGS AND ARTICLES


How to stop businesses behaving badly
By Patrick Love on OECD Insights blog


Corporate leaders: Your sup‌‌ply chain is your responsibility
By Roel Nieuwenkamp, Chair, OECD Working Party on Responsible Business Conduct


Corporate Social Responsibility: Emerging good practice for a new era
By Jane Nelson, Director, CSR Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School


Ready-made garments in Bangladesh: No longer a forgotten sector
By Khadija Farhana, Freelance Journalist, Dhaka, Bangladesh


OECD Observer Roundtable: Responsible business conduct


FROM THE ARCHIVE


Responsible corporate behaviour for sustainable development

 

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September 25, 2014 3:53 AM

Corruption Is the Backbone of Putin's Power - The Moscow Times

Corruption Is the Backbone of Putin's Power - The Moscow Times | Global Policy, Corruption, Economic Crimes, Fronting, Whistleblowers | Scoop.it
The Moscow Times
Corruption Is the Backbone of Putin's Power
The Moscow Times
The Rossiiskaya Gazeta newspaper ran a major interview with Kremlin chief of staff Sergei Ivanov a few days ago.
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September 11, 2014 9:55 AM

IMF Chief Faces French Corruption Probe

IMF Chief Faces French Corruption Probe | Global Policy, Corruption, Economic Crimes, Fronting, Whistleblowers | Scoop.it
KROTOASA RESEARCH-INTENSIVE INSTITUTE (KRII)'s insight:


International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, who Forbes Magazine calls "the fifth most powerful woman in the world," is now under the cloud of a corruption probe.

The investigation by France’s Court of Justice of the Republic concerns actions taken in 2008 when she served as the nation’s finance minister. The state paid business tycoon Bernard Tapie nearly $526 million to settle a dispute he had with a former state-owned bank, Credit Lyonnais. The bank is now privatized and doing business as "LCL."


Tapie’s career has been filled with controversy. He served as the minister for urban affairs under President Francois Mitterand, but his main focus has been owning sports teams and turning around failing businesses.

His Olympique de Marseille football club won a national championship. In 1997, Tapie served six months in prison for match fixing involving his team. Tapie also owned a cycling team that won the Tour De France twice.


The massive arbitration settlement has triggered accusations that it came about as a "quid pro quo" exchange in response to Tapie’s abandoning his long-term allegiance to the Socialist Party, switching his support to center-right Nicholas Sarkozy’s successful 2007 presidential bid. The corruption probe is examining whether Lagarde was negligent” under the law in allowing the Tapie claim to be settled.


In France’s legal system, a person can be placed under formal investigation when there is evidence of possible wrongdoing, but that doesn’t automatically lead to a trial. If convicted on "simple negligence," Lagarde would face a maximum of a year in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros ($19,716).

Legarde’s response to the investigation, which opened in August 2011, was blunt.


"After three years of investigations [and] dozens of hours of questioning," she said, "the [investigatory] commission realized that I was not complicit in any violation, and has therefore been reduced to allege that I may not have been sufficiently vigilant in the arbitration."

Lagarde has repeatedly denied any improprieties in the arbitration, insisting that the commission acted independently and in the best interests of French taxpayers.

The case under investigation involves the 1993 sale of sportswear giant Adidas, which Tapie bought in 1990.


Tapie claimed that he was defrauded in that transaction by Credit Lyonnais, which he asserts significantly undervalued Adidas as the bank took a 19 percent stake in the company. Tapie demanded compensation from the French government because it was Credit Lyonnais’ principal shareholder.


The businessman, who reportedly pocketed half – about $263 million – of the government’s payout after taxes and legal fees, insists that he is fully entitled to the money. He has described the probe as a politically motivated attack on Sarkozy by the opposition Socialists, who are once again holding the president’s post under Francois Hollande. His supporters say the push for the Lagarde probe comes from Socialist Party figure Jean-Marc Ayrault, who served as prime minister under Hollande from 2012 to 2104.

Also under investigation is Lagarde’s chief of staff while she was finance minister, Stephane Richard, now the head of France’s top mobile phone system, Orange.  The probe into Richard and several others is separate from the Lagarde investigation.


The media in France has made this story very visible, as it did when the previous IMF Managing Director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, resigned in 2011 after being accused of sexually assaulting a hotel worker in New York.

The IMF chief’s legal team may file an appeal against the government’s move to formally investigate her. If that strategy is pursued, the process may well extend beyond Lagarde’s five year term at the IMF, which expires in July 2016. One of her lawyers, Christopher Baker, told the Financial Times that if her appeal is rejected, she would likely take her case to France’s top judicial body, the Court of Cassation.  


The IMF’s 24-member board – which has the power to dismiss Lagarde – is standing by her.

“The Executive Board,” its statement read, “has been briefed on recent developments related to this matter, and continues to express its confidence in the Managing Director’s ability to effectively carry out her duties.”

Former IMF official Desmond Lachman, who told Agence France Presse that Lagarde’s performance there has not been affected by the probe.

“Ms. Lagarde,” he said, “has been rather effective in leading the IMF.  It hasn’t really affected the way in which she has been running the organization in the past three years. I don’t see why this development would change that.”

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September 11, 2014 8:53 AM

Fraud, Corruption on the Rise in Government

KROTOASA RESEARCH-INTENSIVE INSTITUTE (KRII)'s insight:


CAPE TOWN – Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe says statistics suggest that serious cases of fraud and corruption in state departments are on the rise.

The minister has been speaking to journalists in Parliament about government's progress in combatting corruption in state departments and entities.

Over the past four years, President Jacob Zuma has signed 36 proclamations authorising the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to probe allegations of fraud, corruption and maladministration.

Radebe also dealt with action by the Anti-Corruption Task Team.

He said the Anti-Corruption Task Team’s target was to convict 100 people for corruption involving more than R5 million by this year.

By the end of March, 548 cases had been identified, a significant amount more than last year's target of 300.

“On the rise, the statistics will suggest that, but it depends what level of corruption it is. But the stats indicate that.”

The minister said 828 people are currently the focus of criminal, financial or forensic investigations arising from the task team's work, involving millions of rands.

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September 11, 2014 8:41 AM

Corruption gone wild? Peru's political indictments reach from top office down

Corruption gone wild? Peru's political indictments reach from top office down | Global Policy, Corruption, Economic Crimes, Fronting, Whistleblowers | Scoop.it
KROTOASA RESEARCH-INTENSIVE INSTITUTE (KRII)'s insight:


One former Peruvian president is now facing charges of money laundering, another of selling pardons to drug traffickers, and a third is in prison, while a serving congressman has been linked to a Mexican drug smuggler, suggesting endemic corruption in Peru's political class. 


In an unanimous vote, Congress approved a report by a congressional audit commission that proposes charging former President Alejandro Toledo (who was in office from 2001 to 2006) with money laundering and criminal conspiracy. Mr. Toledo is accused of using funds from a Costa Rican shell company in order to finance his mother-in-law's $5 million purchase of a home and office. Toledo, who has been under investigation since last year, has criticized the accusations, calling them a "political attack" as he plans to run for the presidency again in 2016.

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September 11, 2014 8:37 AM

Upstart, Anti-Corruption Campaigns In NY, NH Don't Win, But Do Show Growing Anger Over Political Corruption | Techdirt

Upstart, Anti-Corruption Campaigns In NY, NH Don't Win, But Do Show Growing Anger Over Political Corruption | Techdirt | Global Policy, Corruption, Economic Crimes, Fronting, Whistleblowers | Scoop.it
KROTOASA RESEARCH-INTENSIVE INSTITUTE (KRII)'s insight:
To the "savvy" political insiders, political corruption is still not seen as an election issue that people care about or vote over. We've been discussing a number of attempts to change that -- such as with new anti-corruption PACs -- and two of the political races we've discussed ended yesterday. In both cases, the candidates lost, but they way outperformed their expectations, suggesting that there's a real possibility of a better reaction in the future.

In NY, the Governor/Lt. Governor primary ticket of Zephyr Teachout/Tim Wu was always a tremendous long shot. Going up against a popular incumbent governor in Andrew Cuomo (who also has tremendous NY name recognition as the son of a former -- also tremendously popular -- NY governor), the media more or less ignored any possibility of Teachout succeeding. The campaign had little money and no real established political base. It ran almost entirely on the basis of "Hey, Cuomo is kind of corrupt and lies a lot." Before the election yesterday, an analysis of similar races suggested that incumbent governors in similar primaries often get over 90% of the vote and anything under 70% would be a political disaster for Cuomo, who is hoping to leverage his success in NY into an eventual presidential run. While he did eventually win, it was with about 62% of the vote. Teachout got 34% -- again, with no political machine and very little money. Wu ended up with just over 40%, and his opponent Kathy Hochul (Cuomo's choice) got under 60%.

Obviously, a win would have been a bigger deal, but to come out of nowhere (in just a couple of months), with no huge campaign war chest or connections to traditional politics -- against such a well-known governor, basing most of their campaign on corruption issues -- this suggests that corruption absolutely can play as an election issue. Teachout and Wu had one paid staffer and four volunteers. Cuomo has a campaign war chest in the many millions. And he still could only barely crack 60% of the vote. That says something. Also interesting is the fact that Teachout and Wu actually won in many rural upstate counties. The campaign had been expecting a weaker showing there (Hochul is from upstate, and Teachout and Wu are based in Manhattan -- which they also won). Again, while losing the overall race, the strong showing is a good sign for future campaigns.

Meanwhile, up in New Hampshire, we'd discussed the campaign of Jim Rubens for the Senate, against carpetbagging Scott Brown (who jumped states from Massachusetts after losing his Senate seat there). Early on, Rubens was basically a complete nobody. While he'd been in NH politics in the past, he hadn't actually occupied a political office since the 1990s. He was basically roadkill for the political machine of Scott Brown. However Larry Lessig's Mayday PAC noted that Rubens was the only Republican candidate running on an anti-corruption platform to limit the influence of money in politics. Mayday PAC spent heavily on campaign ads for Rubens, and he ended up getting around 24% of the vote, with Brown pulling in less than 50%.

In the end, both of these campaigns obviously lost -- but they were interesting experiments with important lessons. Two upstart campaigns from totally different sides of the traditional political spectrum (Zephyr/Wu to the "left" and Rubens to the "right"), both of which made anti-corruption efforts a key plank in their campaigns. Both were considered barely worth mentioning at the beginnings of the campaigns. Both were up against incredibly well-known, well-funded political machines with national name recognition and ambition. Neither campaign had any significant money. And both actually performed decently despite their disadvantages.

In the end, both campaigns definitely did lose, but they showed how there's clearly a dissatisfaction with the traditional political machine. And if two such tiny, out-of-nowhere campaigns could do that, hopefully it means that future campaigns can do even more.

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September 11, 2014 8:25 AM

Julia Gillard appears at Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption

Julia Gillard appears at Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption | Global Policy, Corruption, Economic Crimes, Fronting, Whistleblowers | Scoop.it
KROTOASA RESEARCH-INTENSIVE INSTITUTE (KRII)'s insight:


Ms Gillard is giving evidence at the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption today and is being questioned about a slush fund linked to her former boyfriend, Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) official Bruce Wilson.


She has repeated her assertion in evidence that her former boyfriend did not pay for renovations to her home. She has also defended her decision to do free legal work for him.


Ms Gillard giving evidence at the union royal commission. Source: News Corp Australia

Just before lunch, Ms Gillard was asked about the purchase of a property in Fitzroy, Melbourne for which she prepared the power of attorney, and was allegedly bought using money from the slush fund.


Ms Gillard attended the auction in 1993 with Mr Wilson but she said she did not remember how the deposit was paid.

“I don’t have any recollection from the time about how the deposit was paid,” she said.

Mr Wilson allegedly bought the property using money from the slush fund.


The commission was due to resume at 2pm.

NO SIGNFICANCE

Ms Gillard said her legal work to create an incorporated association for her boyfriend in 1992 had no particular significance to her at the time.

The association was later turned into a $400,000-plus slush fund run by Mr Wilson.


Ms Gillard said that while her legal advice on the setting up of an incorporated association for Mr Wilson, “has come to assume a great deal of significance in the years since, at the time of these events and my provision of advice, it had no particular significance.

“This did not stand out among the number of legal matters I advised on, as it has come to now,” Ms Gillard said.


Counsel assisting the royal commission Jeremy Stoljar SC. Source: News Corp Australia

When asked whether she ever discussed the association with Mr Wilson, Ms Gillard said: “As couples do in relationships from time to time, we’d discuss matters at work - if you had a particularly good day or a particularly bad day, but no we did not discuss the association”.


TIME MACHINE

Ms Gillard said she had not checked with the union to confirm it had given approval for the use of its name as part of the name of the incorporated association, the Australian Workers’ Union Workplace Reform Association.

When asked about whether, on reflection, she should have contacted the AWU, she said: “None of us get to go in a time machine and go backwards. Obviously given the opportunity I would do things differently”.


A young Julia Gillard and Bruce Wilson. Source: Supplied

MISLEADING?

Counsel assisting the royal commission Jeremy Stoljar SC asked Ms Gillard whether she thought that the association’s name was “misleading”.

“There was nothing in any of this back at the time which caused me to conclude in any way that the name of the association or anything else about the association would be used to mislead people,” Ms Gillard said.


She said that while she didn’t recall where the name came from, after the best part of 20 years, she believed it would have come from instructions to her from Mr Wilson or former AWU official Ralph Blewitt. It was noted that Mr Wilson has claimed to have come up with the name.


Ms Gillard’s former boyfriend Bruce Wilson arrives at the Royal Commission into Trade Unions. Source: News Corp Australia


NOT PART OF UNION


Despite the name, Ms Gillard said it was not proper for the association to be part of the union.

“It is not proper for union moneys to be used to fund union elections,” Ms Gillard said.

“If it had been part of the union, clearly it couldn’t play a role in union elections.”


FREE ADVICE COMMON


Ms Gillard said in the early 1990s Slater and Gordon was a smaller firm that was heavily reliant on plaintiff personal injury matters.

She said it was common do work for the unions for free in the hopes of receiving referrals for personal injury matters.

A file was not always opened for matters that the firm would not be charging for.


Judgment call: Julia Gillard did not open a file for free union work. Source: NewsComAu

“It was always a judgment call on whether to open a file for work for which you would not charge a fee,” Ms Gillard said.

In hindsight, she said it would have been better for Slater and Gordon if she had opened a file for the work she did to set up the AWU Workplace Reform Association.


But when quizzed about whether it was a “substantial job” that she completed for free, she said: “I did more substantial jobs than this for free for trade unions at Slater and Gordon”.

She said it was a job that would have taken “three, four, five hours work at most”.

Ms Gillard said it was her understanding that Slater and Gordon had set up incorporated associations for other unions but that she did not recall doing so for any other unions.


Julia Gillard says it was common to provide free advice to unions. Photo: Phil Hillyard Source: News Corp Australia

When asked about whether she was “predominantly communicating” with her then boyfriend about the work, she said that she was “more regularly in contact” with Mr Wilson, but also dealt with Mr Blewitt.


NO KNOWLEDGE OF BANK ACCOUNT


Ms Gillard said that while she knew there was an intention to set up a bank account for the Workplace Reform Association, “I had no knowledge at that time or knowledge at any time about the banking arrangements”.

Mr Wilson raised with her that he wanted to set up a fund that would support him and his team in their re-election efforts in Western Australia, but she said she had no knowledge that a fund had been set up until media interest in the fund had emerged in recent years.


Julia Gillard during a press conference during the time she was prime minister. Source: News Limited


THE HISTORY


The former prime minister confirmed that she met Mr Wilson in 1991 and they started dating late that year.

She also confirmed she received a $40,000 advance from Slater and Gordon, when she was made a salaried partner in lieu of a pay rise. She used the money to buy a property in Abbotsford.

Ms Gillard has always denied allegations that money from the slush fund was used to pay for renovations to her home.

Or that she knew that money from the fund was used to buy a house in Mr Blewitt’s name.


Federal Court judge Bernard Murphy, who was Ms Gillard’s boss at the firm, told the commission on Tuesday he became aware of rumours around Slater and Gordon’s offices in late 1995 that renovations to Ms Gillard’s Melbourne home had been paid for by funds from the AWU.


Federal Court judge Justice Bernard Murphy departs after giving evidence. AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts Source: AAP

In her supplementary statements, Ms Gillard rejected previous evidence to the commission by a builder, Athol James, who said she had told him Mr Wilson was providing cash to pay for renovations to her home in Abbotsford, Victoria, in 1994.


“I never said to Athol that Bruce Wilson was paying for his work and I did not obtain cash from Bruce Wilson for the work Athol James undertook,” Ms Gillard said.

Ms Gillard also rejected claims by a former union employee, Wayne Hem, that he deposited $5000 into Ms Gillard’s bank account on Mr Wilson’s orders.


Ms Gillard said she had no recollection of ever receiving money in her account from Mr Wilson.

“All payments made for renovations on my property were from my own money,” she said.

Ms Gillard arrived almost two hours early for her appointment with the royal commission, getting there about 7.45am. She managed to avoid the media and was driven into an underground car park.

The hearing was not scheduled to start until 9.30am.

The Hon. John Dyson Heydon AC QC has been appointed to lead the royal commission.

The Commissioner has been asked to provide a report of his findings and recommendations on or before 31 December 2014.

The hearing in Sydney continues.

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September 11, 2014 8:19 AM

Corruption and just desserts in China

Corruption and just desserts in China | Global Policy, Corruption, Economic Crimes, Fronting, Whistleblowers | Scoop.it
KROTOASA RESEARCH-INTENSIVE INSTITUTE (KRII)'s insight:


We tasted our first mooncake Monday to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. No graft was involved.

The delicacy is given as a gift on this national holiday, but the practice has become controversial as China cracks down on corruption. The government has banned using public funds to purchase mooncakes.


Under President Xi Jinping, China is undergoing a purging of sorts, taking aim at many types of corruption. Public officials who dine at expensive restaurants or stay in five-star hotels are under investigation. Shanghai police are investigating a news website for blackmailing businesses – pay up or we'll write negative stories -- a widespread practice in Chinese media.


Mooncakes, however, have taken on a special significance during the anti-graft campaign. At least three government officials have been punished for buying mooncakes at public expense. State-run media have run several stories about the impact on sales – falling 50 percent in some areas, the China Daily reported.

The state-controlled, English language paper also reported that giving mooncakes "had evolved into elaborately wrapped and expensive opportunities" to curry favor with superiors and others. Jewelry, money and even gold bars have been hidden in mooncake boxes.


One of our hosts noted that the preholiday traffic seemed less busy, in part because fewer people were rushing around buying gifts.

The cakes, which are round, represent the full moon that dominates the sky at this time (when it's not filled with smog). Chinese give the cakes to friends and family, which often hold reunions or weddings at this time.


From what we have gathered, mooncakes are something like fruitcakes at Christmas: widely given but less often eaten.

Our hosts in Handan offered us some mooncake. There are many varieties, and this one was dense and dry, packed with almond and a type of nougat. Not bad, but not worth going to jail over.

Feeding China: About this series

Lynn Hicks and Rodney White of the Register are traveling in China reporting on the role of Iowa companies in Chinese agriculture. Their trip was made possible by a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

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September 11, 2014 8:08 AM

‘MP absenteeism is corruption’

‘MP absenteeism is corruption’ | Global Policy, Corruption, Economic Crimes, Fronting, Whistleblowers | Scoop.it

Via Ugtrendz
KROTOASA RESEARCH-INTENSIVE INSTITUTE (KRII)'s insight:

The inspector general of government has described chronic absenteeism from Parliament by MPs as a quiet form of corruption.

In her 2014 Report on Tracking Corruption Trends in Uganda, IGG Irene Mulyagonja laments that despite rampant dereliction of duty, absentee MPs continue to receive their full salaries and entitlements. Launched at Hotel Africana recently, the report also points out that this form of “corruption” seems to be gaining acceptance as normal.


The report notes that sometimes Parliament has failed to pass crucial legislations due to lack of quorum. The full effect of the rampant absenteeism spilled into public view recently, when the Constitutional court nullified the Anti-Homosexuality Act because it was passed without quorum.

The report also quotes Gen Moses Ali, the deputy leader of government business in Parliament, who attacked MPs last December for dodging parliamentary sittings. Ali argued that MPs were engaging in a form of ‘quiet corruption.’

“A House of 300 MPs could not sit on Thursday for lack of quorum. When it comes to payment of salaries, all are paid, whether they attend or not. That is corruption, yet nobody talks about it. If you take taxpayers’ money when you do not attend, sign the register and go away, it is corruption,” Gen Ali said, according to the report...

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September 3, 2014 4:21 PM

FIGHTING CORRUPTION IN SOUTH ASIA: BUILDING ACCOUNTABILITY

KROTOASA RESEARCH-INTENSIVE INSTITUTE (KRII)'s insight:


Hardly a speech is delivered in South Asia without mention of the need to fight corruption in the region. Yet despite the lofty promises, corruption is on the rise. This report shows how a serious lack of political will on the part of governments to make laws work, means that government action to fight corruption is largely ineffective. The report draws on the findings of in-depth research on anti-corruption efforts in Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and SriLanka, which analysed almost 70 institutions across the six countries.

While none of the institutions assessed were found to be free from corruption risks, this report focuses in particular on the judiciary and anti-corruption agencies as critical actors in the fight against corruption. It highlights common challenges in the region and presents the governments of South Asia with a clear set of urgent priorities which need to be addressed in order to translate their anti-corruption rhetoric into concrete action.

The key findings of the report are:
1. Citizens find themselves unable to access key information on how their governments are performing in order to hold them to account.
2. The lack of meaningful protection for whistleblowers means that the chances of detecting wrongdoing by those in positions of power are slim.
3. Widespread political interference in the critical work of anti-corruption agencies and the judiciary makes them ineffective in keeping a check on government.

This situation presents serious challenges for the rule of law in the region. Some laws are inconsistent with international standards, while others are not equally enforced and independently adjudicated. As a result, corruption and other crimes are not effectively and impartially investigated or punished. This creates an atmosphere where the corrupt continue to get away with abusing their positions for their own personal gain at the public’s expense. Nevertheless, there have been some positive developments in the fight against corruption over the last 10 years. Most significantly, all six countries in this study have ratified the UN Convention against Corruption. However, there is still a long way to go to turn these commitments into meaningful action. The analysis presented here suggests a worrying reluctance on the part of the governments concerned to enable citizens to help shape the decisions that affect their daily lives.

The right to information:
A long way to go Citizens continue to face challenges in realising their right to information. When citizens’ right to know is denied, they are less able to hold decision makers to account for their actions. Comprehensive Right to Information (RTI) legislation is in place in Bangladesh, India and Nepal and has recently been passed in Maldives.

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August 21, 2014 11:45 AM

Better Policies for Development 2014

Foreword Foreword The world has changed profoundly since the OECD pioneered the identification and analysis of policy coherence for development (PCD) in the e…
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August 20, 2014 10:49 AM

Governance and development - OECD

KROTOASA RESEARCH-INTENSIVE INSTITUTE (KRII)'s insight:


Governance and development


Focus


The problem of illicit financial flows from developing countries has received significant attention in recent months, including from the G20 and G8 who have committed to tackling this issue at recent summits. Measuring OECD Responses to Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries is the OECD’s flag ship report on this topic. It is the first report that analyses different policy areas to measure how well OECD countries respond to illicit financial flows from developing countries
Read more


DAC Network on Governance (GOVNET) is the only forum for development agencies and partner countries that focuses exclusively on improving governance.


Human Rights and Development
Collaboration and dialogue

Rights violations, poverty, exclusion, vulnerability and conflict are pushing donors to take a more thorough look at human rights as a means to improve the quality of development co-operation. Our Human Rights Task Team helps donors ensure that their strategies and policies support human rights by:

  • sharing information and experiences
  • promoting collaboration between human rights practitioners and other development experts
  • offering policy guidance

Find out more

 

Anti-Corruption

International drivers of corruption

This report introduces an analytical tool intended to help users understand how factors in the global economy and international relations, affect governance and corruption at the country level. It provides a means for identifying those factors that matter most for domestic governance, as well as opportunities for international actors to work more effectively to improve governance in specific country contexts.

Read the report  (pdf, 1.5MB)


Governance assessments
Donor approaches

To help donors improve and harmonise their assessments, we compiled the Guiding Principles to Donor Approaches to Governance Assessments.

Read more  (pdf, 577kB)


Capacity Development
Key to development results

Capacity is indispensible for country ownership and leadership of its policies and programmes. It is central to sustainable national development. Work on this topic is most commonly referred to as capacity development, capacity building, or state building.

Find out more

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August 20, 2014 9:58 AM

Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct

Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct | Global Policy, Corruption, Economic Crimes, Fronting, Whistleblowers | Scoop.it
KROTOASA RESEARCH-INTENSIVE INSTITUTE (KRII)'s insight:


Guidelines for MNEs


The OECD Guide‌lines for Multinational Enterprises are the most comprehensive set of government-backed recommendations on responsible business conduct in existence today. The governments adhering to the Guidelines aim to encourage and maximise the positive impact MNEs can make to sustainable development and enduring social progress.

Responsible Business Conduct Matters
  
Annual report on the Guidelines
 

Due diligence for responsible mineral supply chains


The OECD Due Diligence Guidance provides recommendations to help companies respect human rights and avoid contributing to conflict through their mineral purchasing decisions and practices.

It is the first sectoral guidance that showcases the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises in practice.

 

ILO-OECD roundtable on responsible sourcing in the textile and garment sector, Paris, 29-30 September 2014


After Rana Plaza - OECD Observer special edition on responsible business conduct


WWF and SOCO agreement on Virunga - Final statement by the UK NCP ‌, 15 July 2014


Brazilian SOEs sign term of commitment concerning responsible business conduct 


OECD statement on specific instance of UK National Contact Point regarding G4S, 30 June 2014


Ministerial Communiqué on Responsible Business Conduct | version française, 27 June 2014


Informal ministerial meeting on responsible business conduct, Paris, 26 June 2014

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Statement by the NCPs for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises - One Year After Rana Plaza, 26 June 2014


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