Posts

Will Africa become Russian oligarchs’ new safe haven? 

First published on Financial Transparency Coalition  During the last decade, Russia has expanded its interests and presence in Africa by investing in the mining sector and increasing military support to fragile states, primarily through private military contractors and mercenaries. One of Africa’s most prominent private military groups is the Wagner Group, believed to be financed by one Read more >

Developed countries highly complicit in financial secrecy 

Illicit financial flows create an unjust society and further worsen inequality, especially for underdeveloped countries. This is the message from the Tax Justice Network (TJN), which released its 2022 Financial Secrecy Index (FSI) on 16 May.  The FSI is a ranking of jurisdictions which fuel financial secrecy by helping individuals to hide their finances from Read more >

Beneficial ownership disclosure will expose procurement crooks

By Cherese ThakurFirst published on amaBhungane Corruption costs lives. This simple truth has been grimly illustrated over the past months of national disaster, where front-line workers have had to brave conditions with insufficient or poor quality personal protective equipment (PPE). Many of these workers have contracted the virus, and some have died. In monetary terms, Read more >

Africa can clamp down on illicit flows by using AUCPCC effectively

By Sabeehah Motala Illicit financial flows (IFFs) are costing Africa $30-billion to $40-billion per year and have eroded African countries’ tax bases, hampering their abilities to respond effectively to Covid-19 emergency needs. Lockdown, states of emergency, and all the accompanying implications mean that developing states are more vulnerable than ever to the possibility of illicit Read more >

Foreign bribery largely unchecked in SA, OECD obligations not fulfilled

Yesterday Transparency International (TI) released the 2018 edition of its Exporting Corruption report, following on the previous edition published back in 2015. For South Africa, not much has changed for the better. Exporting Corruption 2018 rates countries on their enforcement against foreign bribery under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Anti-Bribery Convention. The Read more >

South Africa fails to punish foreign bribery, TI report reveals

Transparency International (TI) has today released the 2018 edition of its Exporting Corruption report, rating countries based on their enforcement against foreign bribery under the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention. The OECD convention requires signatory countries to criminalise bribery of foreign public officials and introduce related measures. TI examined the enforcement of 40 signatory countries and four Read more >

How does money laundering work?

Money launderers make use of numerous twists and turns in their efforts to hide their trails, but how does the process really happen? Here’s how. Money laundering is exactly what the words describe – washing the ill-gotten gains of their illegal origins so that what is left cannot easily be traced back to the original Read more >

Anyone can help to unmask the corrupt

Global anti-corruption organisation Transparency International’s (TI) two-year campaign titled Unmask the Corrupt was launched in September 2014. The campaign seeks to root out a specific form of corruption in government, business and civil society – that of transferring stolen assets across international borders by using shell companies, companies with opaque ownership structures, and money laundering. Read more >