U.S. response to the Panama Papers: A step in the right direction but more action is needed
The massive leak dubbed the Panama Papers has given the UK Anti-Corruption Summit on May 12 an unexpected boost. Those coming to the summit, now including the U.S., are lining up to make announcements about the steps they are taking to tackle corruption and specifically financial secrecy. On Thursday the Obama Administration announced a series […]
Posted on 09 May 2016 by Shruti Shah
Let’s celebrate whistleblowers: a case from Italy
We first met Andrea Franzoso in 2013, when Transparency International Italy organised a training course on anti-corruption and whistleblowing for Ferrovie Nord Milano, the northern Italian transport company he works for. At that time Andrea was a member of the internal audit unit of Ferrovie Nord Milano. He was immediately enthusiastic about the topic of […]
Posted on 06 May 2016 by Davide Del Monte
Let’s celebrate whistleblowers
Four medical doctors received Transparency International Sweden’s Whistleblower of the Year (“Årets Visselpipa”) award earlier this month for speaking up against the gross ethical misconduct of a celebrated surgeon whose organ transplants turned out to be fatal. Whistleblowers provide a great service to society. The case of the Swedish doctors is a good example of […]
Posted on 29 Apr 2016 by Peter Varga
SPEAK UP, South Africa: the impact of the Nkandla ruling
In March this year South Africa’s highest court upheld a landmark investigation by the courageous Public Protector Thuli Madonsela that showed how taxpayers’ money had been used to upgrade President Jacob Zuma’s personal residence. This underscored the importance of the role of the Public Protector in holding those in power to account. It is the […]
Posted on 21 Apr 2016 by David Lewis
Yes, there are legitimate uses of shell companies They still shouldn’t be secret
Thanks to an anonymous provider of data and the incredible work done by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), over the last days the world has gained an unprecedented peek into the global system of secret shell companies. The Panama Papers revelations have forced governments to respond, one national leader to step down, and […]
Posted on 15 Apr 2016 by Max Heywood
THE PANAMA PAPERS AND TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
Communicators are strong swimmers. We don’t always sprint, but we can handle long distances and the hard swim upstream. The Panama Papers have exposed a global web of secrecy and corruption that hurts all of us. It has also exposed the Chair of our chapter in Chile and that deeply troubled us. He of […]
Posted on 09 Apr 2016 by Virginie Coulloudon
Public pressure forces Iceland’s prime minister to step down over Panama Papers
Iceland’s Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson resigned on Tuesday just one day after thousands of people marched in the streets protesting his use of secret bank accounts facilitated by Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm which had as clients Gunnlaugsson and his wife. Iceland was the only country that jailed top financial executives behind bars in […]
Posted on 06 Apr 2016 by Gudrun Johnsen
Secret company ownership: a global solution for a global challenge
The way the rich and powerful hide their ill-gotten gains is headline news around the world today. The Panama Papers show everyone how easy it is to set up secret companies that let people avoid taxes and launder money. Kings do it, business tycoons do it, footballers do it, presidents and prime ministers do it. […]
Posted on 04 Apr 2016 by Maggie Murphy
Giving people a voice: lessons from measuring corruption
As the world embarks on the ambitious global development agenda known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is important to have accurate measures of progress, or even lack of progress. Otherwise the goals themselves are at risk of becoming illegitimate. To track the goals, we need to have meaningful indicators that reflect what is […]
Posted on 31 Mar 2016 by Finn Heinrich
Why open data can stop corruption
There has been a big push in recent years to make government data open so citizens know where their tax money is spent– from snow collection in Chicago and broken street lights in Tbilisi, to what public officials declare about their assets in Mexico and their lobbying meetings with companies in the EU. While data […]
Posted on 24 Mar 2016 by Craig Fagan
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