TI-USA Integrity Award

  

 

December 3 , 2015

Transparency International – USA honored President Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, as the 2015 recipient of the TI-USA Integrity Award.   We are pleased to recognize President Carter’s significant contributions during a life of service in promoting integrity and combating corruption in the U.S. and internationally.  PepsiCo received the Corporate Leadership Award for its commitment to a culture of integrity and upholding high standards of corporate citizenship, transparency and accountability. Return to our site for the forthcoming video of acceptance remarks from the 2015 TI-USA Integrity Award Dinner.

December 9 , 2015  Read about President Carter's contributions and TI-USA's recommendations for building integrity and trust in government.

 

House and Senate introduce legislation promoting transparency in beneficial ownership of companies

 

February 3 , 2016

TI-USA welcomes the introduction of bills by Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) –both titled the Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act – that require Treasury/states to collect, maintain and update beneficial ownership information on legal entities for law enforcement purposes.  Our press release is here

Treasury to Track Secret Buyers of High End Properties

 

January 13, 2016

The U.S. Department of Treasury announced it would begin a pilot project for identifying and tracking secret buyers of high-end properties in two of the nation’s major destinations for global wealth: Manhattan and Miami-Dade County from March – August 2016. The orders announced this month follow TI-USA’s March 2015 letter, endorsed by 17 civil society groups, to the Department of the Treasury urging the department to close loopholes in the legal framework that allow corrupt individuals to launder money in the United States through anonymous real estate transactions. We welcome the announcement and ask Treasury to expand the program to the entire country and make it permanent

 

SEC Issues Expedited Rulemaking Schedule For Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Act

October 5, 2015

The SEC announced that it will issue a rule implementing Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Act by June 2016.  This is welcome news, as Section 1504 requires that extractive industry companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges disclose the payments they make to governments.  Its implementation would provide for much needed transparency and would be of great help in the fight against corruption and impunity in a number of resource rich companies in addition to allowing for full implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative in the U.S.  TI-USA urges the SEC to issue a strong rule that would require project-level reporting as well as make all reporting available to the public.  For more information, please see our recent letter to the SEC urging 1504 implementation. See letter here

 

Transparency International Releases Its Annual OECD Anti-Bribery Convention Enforcement Report

August 20 , 2015

This report evaluates national enforcement efforts under the convention, which criminalizes bribery in foreign business transactions.  The Convention is a key instrument for curbing the export of corruption globally because the 41 signatory countries are responsible for approximately two-thirds of world exports and almost 90 per cent of total foreign direct investment outflows.  Unfortunately, national enforcement efforts remain limited, with only four countries (including the United States) engaged in active enforcement.  Read the full report here.

 

TI-USA urges the World Bank to end corporate anonymity in procurement

June 8 , 2015

Transparency International – USA, along with 106 other civil society organizations from around the globe, sent a letter to the President of the World Bank today urging the Bank to require that all legal entity bidders on Bank-financed procurements disclose their beneficial ownership information and that this information be published.  Read the letter here.

See Press Release here

TI-USA on Money, Elections, Elected Officials and Combating Corruption

April 22, 2015

TI-USA today issued a new paper with ten recommendations to promote transparency and integrity in U.S. elections and by elected officials at the federal, state and local levels.  The recommendations include a call for the full, timely and evenhanded disclosure of the original funding sources of PACs and Super-PACs.

As a non-governmental organization dedicated to integrity, transparency and combating corruption, we believe it is important we add our voice to the debate in the U.S. about spending on elections, a debate which has been linked to concerns about corruption and the appearance of corruption. 

Our recommendations address a number of issues at the intersection of money, elected officials and corruption, including those related to the election of judges, asset and outside income disclosures, and gift giving.  View our press release and the paper here.   

 

Treasury must close loopholes to stem the flow of proceeds from foreign corruption into the United States

March 10, 2015

Transparency International-USA sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Treasury, endorsed by 17 civil society organizations, seeking prompt action to require:  1) due diligence by professionals in the real estate sector; and 2) enhanced due diligence by financial institutions of all customers, not just individuals.

Millions of dollars are spent in the United States on luxury property by people who hide behind anonymous companies. Many of the individuals behind these anonymous companies are wealthy foreigners, currently under investigation for corruption and other crimes. The real estate industry does little examination of buyers' identities or backgrounds, and there is no legal requirement for it to do so. 

From our perspective, the effects of anonymous companies go far beyond hiding the ultimate owners of Manhattan's real estate. Anonymous companies allow corrupt politicians and organized crime to transfer and hide illicitly acquired funds worldwide, and fuel an abuse of power and a culture of impunity. Read our press release and letter here.

 

 

 

Exporting Corruption: Assessing Enforcement of the OECD Convention on Combatting Foreign Bribery

October 23, 2014

Transparency International (TI) released its tenth annual progress report on the enforcement of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention (the Convention) and the results are disheartening. The Convention is important for curbing foreign bribery because its forty one signatory countries collectively account for approximately two-thirds of world exports. TI’s annual Progress Report, issued today, presents an independent assessment of the status of enforcement of the Convention by 40 of the 41 Parties. The Progress Report ranks Parties’ enforcement efforts into four enforcement categories  -- active, moderate, limited, and little or no enforcement, based on each country’s enforcement actions from 2010 to 2013. Only four countries rank as “active” enforcers, with the United States topping the list with the highest number of investigations and cases. The other active enforcers are Germany, the U.K, and Switzerland. Five countries rank as moderate enforcers -- Italy, Canada, Australia, Austria, and Finland. The remaining Parties fall into the categories of limited and little or no enforcement, which means there is no deterrence to foreign bribery in countries which make up 34.6% of the world’s exports. See more, click here.

 

Verification of Anti-Corruption Compliance Programs: New Guidance from Transparency International–USA

July 24, 2014

Transparency International-USA released today its report, Verification of Anti-Corruption Compliance Programs.  The 40 page guide sets forth concrete recommendations for companies to use in evaluating their anti-corruption compliance programs. The report, which is based on an in-depth examination of compliance verification practices, is intended to strengthen corporate anti-corruption compliance programs and to improve public credibility regarding their effectiveness.

This report was prepared with financial support from the Siemens Integrity Initiative.

 

Addressing Corruption through Trade Agreements

January 7, 2015

The recently negotiated World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement will simplify customs procedures. A key outcome of these changes is less opportunity for corruption related to the import and export of goods.  This article discusses key Articles of the Agreement and how each one reduces corruption risk. 

Click here for article

 

Transparency International’s open letter to the G20 leaders

November 10, 2014

Transparency International (TI) released an open letter to the G20 leaders today, five days before the leaders’ summit in Brisbane, Australia.  The letter, signed by 25 prominent civil society, religious and academic leaders, including two Nobel Peace Prize winners, calls on the G20 to collect and publish the identity of the real, living people who ultimately own and control companies and other legal entities and to ensure that multinational corporations publish information about revenues, profits, and taxes paid, on a country-by-country basis.  The initiative coincides with a social media campaign, organized by TI, to send more than two million tweets to the G20 leaders for its Unmask the Corrupt Campaign. The campaign calls on governments around the world to introduce beneficial ownership transparency regulations, deny visas to corrupt officials, and to require sellers of luxury goods to scrutinize their customers to screen out those attempting to buy luxury items from proceeds of corruption.  A full text of the letter is available click here :

 

   G20 Anti-Corruption Advocacy Work

 

TI-USA continues to advocate for implementation and enforcement of the G20 2013-2014 Anti-Corruption Action Plan.  We are leading the Anti-Corruption Policy group for Inter-Action which is an alliance organization of  more than 180 U.S.-based international nongovernmental organizations.  TI-USA has drafted the Inter-Action Anti-Corruption Policy Paper.  Our prioritized recommendations for areas that the G20 should tackle in 2014 include:  enforcement of international anti-corruption conventions; implementing effective anti-money laundering actions including collecting beneficial ownership information upon incorporation; and adoption and implementation of a global standard on natural resource transparency.

 

 

           

TI-USA’s Civil Society Procurement Monitoring Tool

TI-USA has recently completed the Civil Society Procurement Monitoring (CSPM) Tool, a web-based tool that is meant to support Civil Society Organizations and individuals who are engaged in monitoring public procurement.

The tool’s main component is the Monitoring Assistant, an interactive checklist of common red flags of corruption in public procurement. The tool also includes a case study-based Training Module, a Procurement Monitoring Guide, links to useful resources for procurement monitoring, as well as a Learning Community where users can share their procurement monitoring experiences.  

The tool is currently operational and it is free and open for use.  It can be accessed at this Link

CSPM Tool 1-pager

 

State of Rights Panel: Combatting Corruption

 

Watch TI-USA's Senior Policy Director Shruti Shah’s remarks on corruption and human rights during a September 3rd panel “Government for the People: Combatting Corruption.”  The event was the first in the State Department Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor's discussion series entitled “State of Rights.”  The public diplomacy initiative aims to gather experts and citizens to discuss and debate emerging global issues in an interactive forum.  The September 3rd panel was shown in U.S. embassies around the world and citizens engaged with Shah and the other experts via Twitter.  View the event website, including resource materials and position papers, here.

2014 Corruption Perception Index

December 3, 2014

Transparency International released its 20th edition of the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) today, available here which highlights the need for action to combat corruption both in the United States and around the world.  The 2014 CPI ranks 175 countries based on the perceptions of public sector corruption. More than two thirds of the countries ranked in the Index score below 50 on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean) implying that levels of bribery and corruption in the public sector are still perceived to be very high. The Transparency International-USA press release is here and our blog is here

 

Transparency and The Clinton Foundation:  Regarding Recent Statements 

 

April 27, 2015

TI-USA issued a press release regarding recent remarks about transparency at The Clinton Foundation.  Click here to see the press release.

Just for Show? Reviewing G20 Promises on Beneficial Ownership

 

November 12, 2015

Transparency International has issued a report, “Just for Show? Reviewing G20 Promises on Beneficial Ownership” which reviews the laws related to beneficial ownership transparency in G20 countries.  In November 2014, the G20 leaders adopted High-Level Principles on Beneficial Ownership Transparency.  The U.S. is not fully compliant with any of the G20 principles and the U.S. anti-money laundering laws have key loopholes such as with respect to the real estate industry.  Transparency International-USA will continue to advocate for legislation that would require states to collect beneficial ownership information for all legal entities upon formation and advocate for FinCEN to issue strong rules requiring financial institutions to identify and verify the beneficial owners of legal entity customers.  We will also advocate for repealing the temporary exemption granted to persons involved in the real estate industry from the Patriot Act’s requirement for implementation of anti-money laundering programs.

 

World Bank Procurement Reform Adopts Many of TI-USA’s Recommendations

July 31, 2015

The World Bank recently adopted new procurement policies and they encompass many of our recommendations, including exploring how to collect and publish beneficial ownership information for bidders on Bank-financed contracts, instituting civil society procurement monitoring on high-risk contracts, adopting stricter anti-corruption policies, and building capacity among borrower country procurement officials.  Read more about it here.

Transparency International-USA’s statement on New York City disclosure rules for shell companies involved in real estate transactions

 

July 20, 2015

As a follow up to the New York Times series “Towers of Secrecy,” which revealed how billions of dollars’ worth of luxury real estate in New York City has been purchased using shell companies, New York City imposed new disclosure requirements in May 2015 on shell companies buying and selling property in the city.  The new rules will require the names of all members of a shell company buying or selling property to be disclosed to the city.  These disclosures will not be made public and are intended to help identify real estate owners who may be avoiding taxes.  Please read TI-USA’s press statement available here.

 

Corruption in the Americas and Caribbean

 

July 15, 2015

TI-USA President Claudia Dumas was one of four featured speakers at the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies at the National Defense University on ‘Corruption in the Western Hemisphere:  Impediment to Citizen Security and Democratic Consolidation’.   Over 200 experts and societal leaders from the Caribbean, Latin America and North America, and a live stream audience in more than 20 countries,  participated in the discussion of how to tackle corruption in the Hemisphere, which is experiencing a number of high profile corruption scandals threatening stability and personal security.

 

Corruption in FIFA

May 27, 2015

TI-USA welcomes the indictment by the U.S. Department of Justice of 14 individuals, including nine senior FIFA officials and four marketing executives, charged with widespread corrupt activities over the past two decades.  This is a positive step toward ridding the multi-billion international soccer organization FIFA of corruption and impunity.   In addition to international law enforcement cooperation, investigation and prosecution, it is time for FIFA to take a hard look at itself and put in place meaningful reforms to check self-dealing and bribery.  

 

TI-UK Releases the Defence Companies Anti-Corruption Index 2015

April 27, 2015

Transparency International–UK released their Defence Companies Anti-Corruption Index 2015, a study that ranks 163 defense companies from 47 countries based on publicly available information relating to their ethics and anti-corruption programs, as well as some internal confidential information provided by 63 of the companies.  Each company is ranked from Band A (best) to Bank F (worst).  As a positive finding, forty-two companies, including six from the U.S., showed significant improvement--by a band or more--since 2012.  In addition, the only four companies in Band A are U.S. companies.  On the other hand, 110 companies in the study, including 25 U.S. companies, were in Bands D, E or F, illustrating that a significant number of defense companies still need to make available basic information about their ethics and anti-corruption programs.  View TI-UK’s press release and index here. 

 

 

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