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World leaders at COP26: urgently shift perspectives to prevent corruption from crippling climate action.  “Transparency International is urging world leaders to bolster transparency, accountability and integrity to ensure effective action against climate crisis…Climate crisis is also a governance challenge, but the need for anti-corruption safeguards has so far been largely absent from climate talks.” Transparency International: https://www.transparency.org/en/press/cop26-shift-perspectives-prevent-corruption-crippling-climate-action#     Corruption: hurdle to change and progress.  “Investigators are already seeing a new challenge as they expose more and more people. If those being investigated use their “networks” to interfere in the investigations, we are not helping ourselves. The [Bhutan Anti-Corruption Commission] had warned that those trying to interfere and “frustrate the investigation will face rigoro...

Aiding business integrity via private sector education (Opinion).  “The [Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s] commitment to promote and strengthen business integrity in Vietnam is specifically mentioned as a positive example of private sector engagement in the latest UNCAC review report…More recently, the VCCI and the UNDP launched the Vietnam Business Integrity Network (VBIN). This is the first private sector collective action initiative committed to fostering a culture of business integrity and anti-corruption compliance in Vietnam.” Vietnam Investment Review: https://vir.com.vn/aiding-business-integrity-via-private-sector-education-88813.html     Chinese Tech Giant Huawei Had Secret Offshore Contracts With Men Linked to Serbian State Telecom Company.  “A former executive at state telecom company Telekom Srbija likely received over $1 million through an offshore firm in the British Virgin Islands that had contra...

Mongolia: fully digitalized land registration government services.  “On October 1, 2021, Mongolia introduced an electronic land registration system and fully digitalized land registration government services. This allows citizens and businesses to receive documents related to land possession and use them free of charge, reducing unnecessary permits, queues, and paperwork.” Independent Authority Against Corruption of Mongolia: https://iaac.mn/news/mongolia-fully-digitalized-land-registration-government-services/     Open Contracting Legislative Guide (Resource).   “This new report provides insights and guidance on how countries have cemented open contracting approaches into their legislation modernizing public procurement, supporting reforms that put transparency, efficiency, and equity at its core.” Open Contracting Partnership : https://www.open-contracting.org/resources/open-contracting-legislative-guide/   ...

Guest Post: Contesting the Narrative of Anticorruption Failure (Blog).  “My point here is not to denigrate academics…But still, a certain strain in academic writing about anticorruption efforts disturbs me. This strain overemphasizes and exaggerates failure…My challenge to the world’s finest scholars on corruption is this: spend as much time as you have on analyzing failure on finding out what has worked, and why it worked.” Robert Barrington/The Global Anticorruption Blog : https://globalanticorruptionblog.com/2021/10/18/guest-post-contesting-the-narrative-of-anticorruption-failure/#more-19056     Corruption jeopardises reopening plan (Opinion).  “All the Covid-19 debacles have been derived from corruption and dereliction of duty of state officials who turned a blind eye to legal violations by some business operators. Unless the government learns the lessons and truly tackle such malpractice, it will not be poss...

The Role of Public Procurement in Achieving the SDGs (Virtual Event).  “We are pleased to invite you to the ASEAN Regional Dialogue on The Role of Public Procurement in Achieving the SDGs, which will take place on 27th and 28th October 2021…The Regional Dialogue will bring together government representatives from the region, private sector leaders and civil society representatives interested in learning more about and/or implementing the sustainable public procurement agenda via the SDGs, integrity, and value-for-money lenses.” UNDP: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_VRLV-5hMT4Cer83wZQ4gBA     Pandora Papers: Lessons for beneficial ownership transparency? (Blog).   “Whilst the Pandora Papers confirm the already known problems associated with current business as usual, they also include signs of progress. It is clear that beneficial ownership information is a fundamental piece of data to aid the fight against financial cri...

Symposium on Data Analytics and Anticorruption (Event).  “A Symposium on Data Analytics and Anticorruption will be co-hosted by the World Bank and the Korea Development Institute School of Public Policy and Management on October 25-28…The papers cover four thematic areas: New data-driven approaches to detecting and measuring corruption; Using new data sources and methods to measure the impacts of corruption; Using open data to assess the effectiveness of anticorruption tools, policies, and interventions; Contributing new knowledge on  data access, quality, and privacy issues.” World Bank : https://www.worldbank.org/en/events/2021/10/25/symposium-on-data-analytics-and-anticorruption#1   Thank you to James Anderson, World Bank for sharing this news.   Connecting the anti-corruption and human rights agendas: challenges and opportunities for Collective Action (Blog).  “While a majority of participating companies identified ...

Gloves come off in corruption case.  “The Public Warehouse Organisation (PWO) [under the Ministry of Commerce Thailand] has fired three senior officials for alleged corruption in the purchase of 112.5-billion-baht (approx. US$3.3 billio) worth of rubber gloves and ordered them to pay 2 billion baht (approx. US$59 million) compensation in damages.” Phusadee Arunmas/Bangkok Post: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2193591/gloves-come-off-in-corruption-case     Coordinating ministers named in Pandora Papers.   “Two of Indonesia’s coordinating ministers are mentioned in the latest leak of financial documents, dubbed the Pandora Papers, which revealed they had established offshore shellcopmanies in tax havens, allegedly tying them to unreported wealth stored overseas…Among them are Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan and Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto” ...

UNDP FairBiz in ASEAN Quarterly Newsletter.  Check out UNDP ‘Promoting a Fair Business Environment in ASEAN’ project’s updates such as the project’s extension until March 2022; our work to promite business integrity along supply chains; CoST – the Infrastructure Transparency Initiatives’ two data disclosure portals in Thailand and Indonesia launched under the project, as well as the new collaboration with UK Government Digital Service on digital transformation in Thailand. UNDP : https://us20.campaign-archive.com/?e=__test_email__&u=b9b75ff1921ce1ba1ffc81cad&id=284c0691f2     Roadmap to fight corruption with open data (Interactive tool).  “The Roadmap to fight corruption with open data provides tools and resources to support users to identify and overcome the political, technical and logistical challenges usually faced in the co-creation and implementation of OD4AC commitments. It includes cases and e...

Indian firms ahead of peers in fraud detection.  “Companies in India have bolstered their defences against bribery and corruption risk, and around 81% respondents believe that sufficient board-level attention and investment is given to bribery and corruption risk, well above the global average (72%), according to Global Fraud and Risk Report by Kroll, which provides services and digital products related to valuation, governance, risk and transparency.” Livemint: https://www.livemint.com/news/india/india-inc-lead-global-peers-in-use-of-data-analytics-to-identify-bribery-report-11631611784301.html     Three Reasons Anti-Corruption Programs Fail (Blog).  “In my new book Controlling Corruption: The Social Contract Approach , I argue that this huge policy failure can be explained by three main factors. First, and most importantly, the principal-agent theory that has dominated anti-corruption efforts from the World Bank to development o...

Mongolia: law on public information.  “State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs Mr. Baasandorj gave a brief interview regarding the Law on Public Information. Current Law on Information Transparency and the Right to Access Information is being revised into the Law on Public Information.” Independent Authority Against Corruption of Mongolia : https://www.iaac.mn/news/mongolia-law-on-public-information/     The Corruption of the Afghan Presidency.  “[Afghanistan’s former president, Ashraf Ghani], during his nearly seven years in power, found ways to enrich his brother, his brother-in-law, and other members of his inner circle. This April, I co-authored a two-year-long investigation, published by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, that revealed the Afghan president’s office had approved unique extralegal rights for the subsidiary of an American military contractor to purchase, proces...

Fixing public procurement systems with transparency, accountability, and integrity mechanisms (Blog).  “Certainly, this period of economic slow-down is also an opportune moment for governments to utilize public procurement as a strategic instrument to uplift development. Hence, investing in open, transparent, and agile public procurement systems is synonymous with investing in building resilient societies post the pandemic.” Diana Torres and Sapna Dubey/UNDP: https://www1.undp.org/content/fairbiz/en/home/blog/fixing-public-procurement-systems-with-transparency--accountabil.html   Malaysia says auditor KPMG to pay $80 million in 1MDB settlement.  Malaysia said on Thursday audit firm KPMG has agreed to pay a 333 million ringgit ($80.11 million) settlement to resolve all claims related to their fiduciary duties on auditing of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) accounts from 2010 to 2012.” Liz Lee/Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/business...

Bad for business: World Bank China rigging scandal rattles investors.  “ Some investors and campaigners expressed dismay on Friday at revelations that World Bank leaders pressured staff to boost China's score in an influential report that ranks countries on how easy it is to do business there… "There have been wide divergences between some countries corruption ranking(s) and the ease of doing business scores, which implies that these were only face-value improvements rather than reflecting underlying economic change," [Charles Robertson, chief economist at Renaissance Capital] said.” Tom Arnold and Marc Jones/Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/bad-business-world-bank-china-rigging-scandal-rattles-investors-2021-09-17/      NACC told to release watch scandal details.   “The [Thai] National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) will study the details of the Central Administrative Court's order that th...

Open Contracting Quickstart Guide (Resource).  “In this guide, you’ll find 15 practical strategies within four sections covering core aspects of public procurement reform.” Open Contracting Partnership : https://www.open-contracting.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/OCP21-Quickstart-English.pdf     China continues to strengthen its anti-corruption campaign in relation to public servants (Blog).  “The Supervisors Law of the People’s Republic of China (“Supervisors Law“) was recently promulgated by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on 20 August 2021. Together with other legislation and enforcement activities, the Supervisors Law aims to strengthen President Xi’s anti-corruption campaign and is scheduled to take effect on 1 January 2022.” Simon Hui, Henry Chen and Zhengwei Yang/Global Compliance News: https://www.globalcompliancenews.com/2021/09/14/china-continues-to-stren...

Civil society’s role in disrupting the illegal trade of endangered animals and environmental commodities in Vietnam and Indonesia (Report).  “Transnational crime syndicates have formed complex and adaptive networks that pose steep challenges for law enforcement, while bribery and corruption have undermined the state response… This new report and digital story…highlights civil society’s multifaceted role in disrupting the illegal trade of endangered animals and environmental commodities in Vietnam and Indonesia.” Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime: https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/change-agents/     #RasuahBusters unveil six anti-corruption demands to the govt.  “The demands were for the implementation of and full support for [Malaysia’s] National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP), acceleration of the tabling and implementation of a political funding law, assurance of institutional f...

Corruption and Self-Dealing in Afghanistan and Other U.S.-Backed Security Sectors (Commentary).  “The Afghan security forces’ gradual and then sudden collapse is a cautionary tale about other U.S. efforts worldwide to bolster foreign security sectors that are hamstrung by corrosive and endemic corruption.” Jodi Vittori/Carnegie Endowment for International Peace : https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/09/09/corruption-and-self-dealing-in-afghanistan-and-other-u.s.-backed-security-sectors-pub-85303     Out in the open: how public beneficial ownership registers advance anti-corruption.  “Information about the real individuals behind companies is critical for everything from a fair tax system to stopping corruption and wildlife trafficking. The advantages of having beneficial ownership information easily available to authorities as well as to the public are so abundantly clear, that neither anti-corruption professionals nor the wide...

Walking the Talk: Resources on Tackling Social Norms with Strategic Marketing and Communication Campaigns (Blog).  “[Social and behavior change communications] typically use normative messages to 1) convince people that behavior advocated in a campaign is already the norm; 2) correct misperceptions about prevalence and support for behavior; or 3) attach social stigma to unhealthy behaviors…The following shortlist of notable resources is a result of a grey literature review conducted in Spring 2021, which identified 34 documents, of which 20 directly provided insight into overarching social norms communications strategies.” Malavika Krishnan/Tufts University: https://sites.tufts.edu/ihs/walking-the-talk-resources-on-tackling-social-norms-with-strategic-marketing-and-communication-campaigns/     China’s corruption busters signal they plan to make bribe givers pay.  “China’s anti-corruption bodies and law enforcement...

Anti-graft council created amid probe on state corruption.  "The [Philippine] Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC)…formed a new inter-agency task force to bring its campaign against graft and corruption to the lowest level of the government, as the administration faces questions over allegedly anomalous deals. More than 40 agencies under the Executive branch signed a memorandum of agreement to form the National Anti-Corruption Coordinating Council, which will institutionalize anti-corruption committees (ACCs) in all levels of government." Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza/Business World : https://www.bworldonline.com/anti-graft-council-created-amid-probe-on-state-corruption/     Opinion: Why police reform hasn't come to Thailand (Opinion).  "In Nakhon Sawan province, a 24-year old man arrested for selling methamphetamine pills suffocated to death as corrupt Thai police officers attempted to extort a bribe of two million baht for his release…Po...

Why fighting corruption matters in times of COVID-19.  “With the release of the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2020, we looked at how corruption undermines states’ capacity to respond to emergencies such as the dual health and economic crises brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our analysis highlights that: [corruption] diverts funds from essential services…[a lack of transparency…weakens the efficiency of crisis responses; [countries] that perform poorly in controlling corruption tend to breach human rights and democratic norms in their management of the COVID-19 pandemic.” Jon Vrushi and Roberto Martínez B. Kukutschka/Transparency International : https://www.transparency.org/en/news/cpi-2020-research-analysis-why-fighting-corruption-matters-in-times-of-covid-19     Mongolia: law on civil servants’ ethics.  “If the draft Law on Ethics and Discipline of Civil Servants is adopted, it will be the first ...

Ex-Indonesian minister jailed for 12 years in Covid-19 graft scandal.  “Former Indonesian social affairs minister Juliari Batubara has been sentenced to 12 years in prison over a multi-million dollar Covid-19 graft scandal…after receiving 32.4 billion rupiah ($2.25 million) in kickbacks in relation to the procurement of goods intended for Covid-19 social assistance packages.” Bangkok Post: https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/2169863/ex-indonesian-minister-jailed-for-12-years-in-covid-19-graft-scandal     Strengthening Law Enforcement Integrity (Webinar).  The Webinar on Tuesday 31 August 13:30-16:15 (GMT+7) is jointly organized by the American Bar Association and the UNODC Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. It will  gather practitionres from the region and experts to discuss the most pernivious and common forms of corruption in policing and will provide a framework and evidence-based research for risk mitigation ...

Promoting a Fair Business Environment in Malaysia (Blog).  “After engaging with key public sector institutions over the last few years on strengthening national anti-corruption measures in Malaysia, UNDP’s approach now establishes efforts to enhance business integrity in the private sector. Working with SMEs helps to ensure a rigorous approach in addressing graft and creating a fair business environment in the country, as they contribute to the dynamism of the Malaysian economy.” Ashvinder Singh/UNDP: https://www.my.undp.org/content/malaysia/en/home/blog/2021/promoting-a-fair-business-environment-in-malaysia.html   Duterte faces fire for missing Covid-19 funds.   “Amid the sickness, death and economic collapse, a recent report by the Commission on Audit (COA), a constitutionally independent body, claimed up to 67.32 billion pesos ($1.3 billion) of Covid-19 management and relief funds were either unspent or underutilized… Acco...

Business Integrity in Small and Medium Enterprises (Webinar).   This webinar on Wednesday 25 August, 13:00-16:00 (GMT+7) provides an opportunity for business integrity stakeholders to share innovations, resources, signs of progress, and future directions related to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Southeast Asia, with a focus on the management of corruption risks and third-party due diligence, which are high priorities of the private business sector. The American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative will also be launching the Practical Guide to Corruption Risk Assessment for Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs) to help organisations promote integrity and responsible business conduct.” Ethixbase: https://ethixbase.com/webinar-business-integrity-in-smes-risk-assessment-and-corruption-prevention       Conflict and corruption: Case of Afghanistan, lesson for Nepal (Commentary).  “ The history of corruption has taught us one l...

A Cautious Challenge to Constitutionalizing Anticorruption Commissions (Blog).   “While some, such as those in Hong Kong and Singapore, have effectively executed their mandate to investigate and prosecute instances of graft, bribery, and other forms of corruption, others ACCs have been criticized as toothless, inefficient, or themselves corrupt…The evidence is murky and inconclusive, but there are some reasons to doubt whether constitutionalization can overcome the obstacles that have limited the effectiveness of ACCs in the past.” Brooke Davies/The Global Anticorruption Blog: https://globalanticorruptionblog.com/2021/08/09/a-cautious-challenge-to-constitutionalizing-anticorruption-commissions/     How to stop vaccine corruption, which is plaguing the global fight against COVID-19 (Opinion).  “A wave of vaccine corruption scandals have shaken the global COVID-19 vaccine rollout... Global partnership is critical to uprooting ...

Mongolia: USD 224 thousand recovered during the investigation.  “Investigators from the [Independent Authority Against Corruption of Mongolia] have transferred large sums of bribes seized during criminal investigations [of N. Bayarsaikhan, who received a large amount of bribes from citizens and business entities during his tenure as head of the division of the Specialized Inspection Agency] to the state treasury account of the Ministry of Finance.” Independent Authority Against Corruption of Mongolia: https://www.iaac.mn/news/mongolia-usd-224-thousand-recovered-during-the-investigation?lang=en      Indonesians’ attitudes to corruption and the environment – results of new survey released on 18 August.  To gain a better insight into what the Indonesian public thinks about this issue and others relevant to corruption, governance and natural resources, the Basel Institute on Governance and Lembaga Survei Indonesia (LSI), the...

Can the Olympics leave an anti-corruption legacy? (Blog).  “[We] may one day be able to say that a country is better governed in relation to human rights and anti-corruption because it hosted the Olympics or FIFA World Cup…[For example, an] organizing committee (the local host-city/country entity that oversees preparations) requires all third parties to adopt anti-corruption compliance and human rights due diligence, even if local law does not so require.” Andy Spalding/The FCPA Blog: https://fcpablog.com/2021/08/09/can-the-olympics-leave-an-anti-corruption-legacy/     Samsung boss to be freed from jail after bribery sentence.  “The billionaire boss of South Korea’s Samsung empire will be freed from jail on Friday after serving part of a 30-month sentence for bribing former South Korea president Park Geun-hye.” Rupert Neate/The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/aug/09/samsung-boss-to-be-free...