Key Anti-Corruption Challenges Facing Business (Speech)

October 05, 2013 by Frank Vogl in Corporate Governance, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corruption

TI Canada Business Roundtable Speech October 1 2013

Presentation by Frank Vogl to Canadian business leaders - key themes include

the rising levels of investigations and prosecutions of business;
the evolving landscape of anti-corruption efforts across the world;
the mounting international business competition from Russian and Chinese corporations that do not face the same prosecution risks from their governments as Western multinationals do;
the new transparency initiatives in the oil, gas and mining sectors;
the complexity of finding punishments that adequately meet the crimes, be it in money laundering or corporate bribery;
the reasons for cautious optimism about the outlook

China’s Rising Anti-Corruption Fever – Who is Next?

September 15, 2013 by Frank Vogl in Corporate Governance, Corruption, News

An unprecedented attack on corruption at the top of the Chinese Communist Party is now underway. Suddenly, following a spate of trials, arrests and investigations, it seems as if even the most senior leaders in the Communist Party are vulnerable.

Accountability & Transparency Now in U.S. Aid to Egypt

August 19, 2013 by Frank Vogl in Corruption, US Politics, News

The horrendous slaughter in the streets of Egyptian cities is calling into question the value of U.S. foreign aid to Egypt. Currently, the U.S. provides about $1.5 billion annually in aid to Egypt.

Hopefully, this discussion will lead to a deeper and broader debate about the objectives of our aid programs and the methods used to provide aid and monitor its uses. – not just to Egypt, but to countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Kenya where key issues of international security are a prime driver of U.S. largesse.

Speaking Truth to African Power

August 19, 2013 by Frank Vogl in General

Infant mortality in oil rich Nigeria is three times as great as in one of the world’s very poorest countries, Bangladesh.

Indeed, social indicators in many of the sub-Sahara African countries endowed with oil, gas and mining wealth are appalling.

Urgently Needed: Reform of the Broken American Political System

July 27, 2013 by Frank Vogl in Corruption, US Politics

The American political system is damaged goods. Public confidence in the U.S. Congress is at an all-time low of just 10 percent, according to a recent Gallup Poll. Then, according to a brand new poll, 85 percent of U.S. business leaders see major problems with the U.S. campaign finance system, indeed 42 percent say the system is completely broken.

Guest post: No End To Poverty In Africa Unless Corruption Is Tackled First.

June 04, 2013 by Frank Vogl in General

The article highlights theimportant new African Progress Report 2013, produced by the African Progress Panel of distinguished persons chaired by former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The report, due its detailed research and compelling logic of argument, should have a major influence on public debate about reducing poverty in Africa. Frank Vogl provides some answers and insights in this blog.

Good Governance Requires Dimon to End Dual Roles at J. P. Morgan Chase

May 13, 2013 by Frank Vogl in Corporate Governance, Corporate Social Responsibility, Global Economy, News, Employment

Raging debates about whether or not the CEO and Chairman roles at J.P. Morgan Chase should be divided have centered on the skills and personality of Jamie Dimon who currently holds both positions. Shareholders of J.P. Morgan Chase will vote on this issue at their annual meeting on May 21, 2013. They should not focus on the particular skills of Dimon, but rather on core issues of good governance.

Rules of Law is Key to Bangladesh Tragedy

May 02, 2013 by Frank Vogl in Corporate Governance, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corruption, NGOs, Public Sector Governance, News, Employment

....the breakdown of the rule of law in a country where corruption is widespread has led to the deaths of hundreds of people: civil society needs to lead actions to force changes by government and business alike...

A Blow Against Corruption as Oil, Gas and Mining Global Transparency Advances

April 22, 2013 by Frank Vogl in Corporate Governance, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corruption, Global Economy, NGOs, Public Sector Governance, News

Shining a bright light on the global operations of major multinational corporations, including details of the cash they pay to foreign governments, will not end corruption. But, it is a very good start on a long and vital journey.

Rising Political Storms Take The Euro Crisis into More Dangerous Waters

April 05, 2013 by Frank Vogl in Corruption, Global Economy, Public Sector Governance, News

Historians will look back to chaotic financial events in late March/early April 2013 on the tiny island of Cyprus as the start of a new and more dangerous phase in Europe’s crisis. Now, after years of mounting debt and economic problems from Portugal and Spain to Greece and Italy, Europe is entering what may be an era of rising challenges to its democratic institutions.

Bankers Need To Radically Rethink Reputation Management

March 13, 2013 by Frank Vogl in General

A Matter That Goes to the Top," that the chairmen and CEOs of major financial services firms need to recognize the power of the 24/7 global news cycle, the widespread public suspicion of banks and bankers, the cultural changes that are being demanded by the public and regulators alike.

Afghan Corruption Imperils Future Success

February 11, 2013 by Frank Vogl in General

Dramatic changes lie ahead for Afghanistan — none of them encouraging. President Obama has confirmed that U.S. military presence in the country will wind down over the next 18 months. Responsibility for the country's governance, security and economy will rest on Afghan shoulders. The tragedy is that the government of Hamid Karzai is a cesspool of corruption, and much of the looting has been of the tens of billions of dollars from U.S. taxpayers.

Transparency International Celebrates 20th Anniversary in 2013 - Looking back makes the outlook for corruption fighting bright

January 02, 2013 by Frank Vogl in Corruption, NGOs, Public Sector Governance, General

It was late 1992 and Peter Eigen was putting the finishing touches to plans that would see the launch of Transparency International in 1993. For several years Eigen, then a veteran World Bank senior official, had been waging a campaign inside the Bank and across the development aid community to build understanding of how corruption – the abuse of power for personal gain – was wrecking anti-poverty projects in many of the world’s poorest countries.

Money Launderers and Corporate Bribers Must Be Brought to Justice -- For example, HSBC, Wal-Mart

December 28, 2012 by Frank Vogl in General

The punishment needs to fit the crime, but are some giant multinational corporations now so large that they no longer can be punished effectively?

Our free enterprise system depends upon all competitors playing by the rules and when one seeks special advantage by paying bribes, then the system is subverted. When that one is a giant company, for example, Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, then the victims are manifold, starting with its direct business competitors.

Afghanistan’s Cesspool of Corruption

December 06, 2012 by Frank Vogl in Corruption, NGOs, Public Sector Governance, News

The 2012 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), published this week, finds Afghanistan at absolute rock bottom, sharing this dismal place with North Korea and Somalia. Despite the flow to Afghanistan over the last decade of hundreds of billions of dollars of Western – mostly American – economic and military aid, this country is a rotten cesspool of corruption.

Rising Threats to Civil Society - Egypt, Russia.....

November 25, 2012 by Frank Vogl in Corruption, NGOs, Public Sector Governance, News

Many of my friends leading human rights and anti-corruption organizations from Bahrain to Zimbabwe face rising threats from national governments and their security forces. The vice is tightening in one country after another on activists for human rights, political reform, freedom of speech, and anti-corruption.

Corruption Takes Center Stage in Greek-Euro Crisis

October 31, 2012 by Frank Vogl in Corruption, Global Economy, News

The Greek government, under international pressure to attack rampant domestic corruption, acted on Monday by hauling an investigative journalist into court. Costas Vaxevanis faces trial for having published the names of 2,059 Greeks who have accounts at the HSBC bank in Switzerland.

American Banker - How to Put an End to Bank Bashing

October 22, 2012 by Frank Vogl in Corporate Governance, Corruption, Global Economy

The blasts at bankers as being corrupt are not about to subside. Recent high-profile allegations against some of the largest banks, from charges of interest rate manipulation, to breaking U.S. sanctions on Iran, to vast money-laundering schemes, are just a taste of what is to come. Never before have there been so many investigations by such a multitude of official agencies in the U.S. and abroad of the possible malfeasance of bankers.