More money, more oversight
The week in corruption, 27 March 2020
With the Coronavirus pandemic continuing to affect more and more countries, yesterday our thirteen national chapters across Latin America published guidance that will help governments in the region stop critical emergency funds being lost to corruption.
Also this week, our office in the United States asked the Congress to include key anti-corruption safeguards in its Coronavirus stimulus package. Proposed reforms will, among other things, ensure that government contracts go toward fighting the virus and are not misappropriated by corrupt actors at home or abroad.
With additional resources being allocated to fight the pandemic, we need to ensure that funds that should alleviate the crisis and support communities don’t end up being stolen and stashed offshore. That is precisely why this week we have also been calling for anti-money laundering supervision of banks to be more robust, effectively enforced and consistent.
Additional evidence has come to light, describing how Sweden’s biggest bank, Swedbank may have facilitated the laundering of funds from Azerbaijan, Russia and Ukraine.
An independent report found that Swedbank and its Baltic branches actively sought clients with a high-risk profile and reportedly processed at least US$40 billion in high-risk transactions between 2014 and 2019, ignoring anti-money laundering obligations.
Together with our national chapters in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden, we have proposed ways to address these extraordinary failings in the governance and supervision of the banking sector, so that these mistakes do not repeat themselves in the critical months to come.
Do you have information on corruption or wrongdoing related to the Coronavirus pandemic? You can send tips to the investigative journalists at the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
If you’ve been asked for a bribe in accessing public services, you can also approach one of our advocacy and legal advice centres.
What do you think? Let us know @anticorruption.
News from Transparency International
Coronavirus sparks high risk of corruption across Latin America
A working group of 13 Latin American chapters of Transparency International presented a set of proposals to mitigate the risk of corruption in public procurement as part of the region’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Swedbank’s dirty money dealings should trigger fundamental changes in anti-money laundering supervision
The new internal review details how Swedbank hid information from authorities during on-site and off-site inspections. The bank also continuously failed to identify and record clients’ identities, verify sources of their funds and report suspicious transactions.
G20: Hundreds of civil society organisations pledge to avoid Saudi Arabia-led process
“We cannot participate in a process that seeks to give international legitimacy to a state that provides virtually no space for civil society, and where independent civil society voices are not tolerated.”
U.S. Congress must proactively prevent corruption from derailing Coronavirus response
Reforms proposed by Transparency International’s U.S. office will help ensure that corruption does not slow down the response to the pandemic, prolong the suffering of Americans and those dependent on U.S. foreign aid, or undermine the economic recovery from the crisis.
News on Voices for Transparency
Zimbabwe: Extorting sex for food
Basic socio-economic rights, enshrined in Zimbabwe’s constitution, include the right to health care, the right to food and water, and the right to education. But they have become a privilege of the few, Transparency International Zimbabwe’s recent report finds.
Hungary: The state of emergency must be limited in time
Our Hungarian chapter voices concern over legislative proposals to extend the state of emergency for an indefinite period and to accord special powers to the government, including the possibility to rule by decree and without the Parliament’s approval.
Russia: Advocating for foreign bribery enforcement in a highly corrupt country
Transparency International Russia is working to change perceptions around the country’s role in exporting corruption. This is especially important considering Russia’s increasing presence in Africa, writes our colleague Grigory Mashanov.
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