By Miroslav Palanský and Moran Harari First published on the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre blog Corruption happens in two main stages. The first is the actual act of receiving something of value: a monetary bribe passed under a table, a public procurement contract awarded to a classmate from high school, a law quietly rewritten to Read more >
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Image: International Monetary Fund The G20 Development Working Group (DWG) has released a document outlining its call to action for countries to adopt what it terms voluntary and non-binding high-level principles for combating illicit financial flows (IFFs). The DWG falls under the G20’s Sherpa track and is the key G20 forum for the discussion of Read more >
The Tax Justice Network (TJN) released the 2025 edition of its Financial Secrecy Index (FSI) on 3 June 2025, following on the previous edition released in 2022. The key finding, says the organisation, is that those countries who provide the most financial secrecy are clearly moving towards autocracy. Of this year’s top 10, says TJN, Read more >
By Moepeng Valencia Talane – CW Voices There is something worrying and unnervingly consistent in the messaging around corruption by members of the executive in South Africa’s government, mostly because of the tone that is set and the words that are used. Yes, it’s important to reflect truthfully and call a spade a spade when Read more >
Image: AAACOA South Africa currently chairs the Botswana-based Association of Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Commonwealth Africa (AAACOA). The country, in the person of Special Investigating Unit (SIU) head Adv. Andy Mothibi, recently assumed the chairperson’s seat from Ghana and will keep it throughout the 2025-2026 term. The handover took place during the closing session Read more >
The concept of a wealth tax is a current hot topic of discussion around the world. There are numerous arguments for and against the practice, with some saying a wealth tax might be inequitable and place more of a burden on the middle class than the rich, and others saying a moderate, progressive tax is Read more >
Image: Flickr/UN Women The 11th session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD-11) is taking place this week in Kampala, Uganda. The theme is Driving job creation and economic growth through sustainable, inclusive, science-based and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want, of the Read more >
For those who wonder why such a fuss is made about illicit financial flows in the form of tax abuse, here is the reason – countries around the world are losing US$492-billion in tax a year because multinational corporations and wealthy individuals are able to use tax havens to avoid or underpay tax. Nearly half Read more >
Image: International Monetary Fund Illicit financial flows (IFFs) have been, and continue to be, a huge problem for developing countries, especially. They hinder countries’ ability to meet the UN sustainable development goals, because they undermine the fiscal systems which are in place to collect government revenue, and reduce the amount of funds available for development Read more >