Ethics Newsline®

BERLIN
The global anticorruption group Transparency International (TI) last week urged multinational companies and financial institutions to actively combat bribery and attempt to stanch the flow of illicit money.

In its annual report on perceptions of corruption worldwide, TI argued that “bribe money often stems from multinationals based in the world’s richest countries,” according to a summary of the report from the International Herald Tribune. “It can no longer be acceptable for these companies to regard bribery in export markets as a legitimate business strategy.”

The group’s annual survey, which measures the perceived level of corruption in 180 nations, did note that some African countries, such as Namibia and Swaziland, have improved their reputations, as did some Eastern European nations that cleaned up their financial affairs in order to gain admittance to the European Union, according to a report from Radio Netherlands.

But many of the world’s poorest nations, including several in Africa, languished near the bottom of the list, reports the Nairobi Business Daily. Kenya was ranked in the bottom 10, along with Zimbabwe, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

Wealthier countries generally rose high on the list, which was topped by Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Singapore, Sweden, Iceland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada, and Norway, in that order. The United States placed 20th on the list.

But TI chair Huguette Labelle did not let high-ranking countries off the hook entirely, contending that they often serve as enablers of graft. In an opinion piece published by the Toronto Globe & Mail, Labelle wrote, “Wealthy countries must also acknowledge their role and regulate their financial center more strictly. Focusing on the roles of trusts, demanding knowledge of beneficial ownership and strengthening anti-money-laundering provisions are just a few of the ways that rich governments can tackle the facilitators of corruption.”

“Multinational companies have to do more to clean up international business. They must not only introduce but implement effective anti-bribery codes, and ensure that they are adhered to by subsidiaries and foreign offices,” Labelle added.

The most striking finding was the strong correlation between poverty and perceived corruption, according to an analysis from the Agence France-Presse. About four in ten countries perceived to have rampant corruption are classified by the World Bank as low-income nations.

Many of the most corrupt countries also are torn by strife. At the bottom of the list is Somalia, with Myanmar at number 179, Iraq at 178, and Haiti at 177.

The data are culled from surveys of experts on corruption, and measure only the perception of corruption, leading some of the nations low on the list to complain that the study is based on rumor, not fact.

Government and business spokespersons in the Philippines, for example, were quick to criticize the methodology and point to what they said were significant success stories in the fight against graft, reports the Manila Standard.

The Philippines fell to 131st on this year’s list, down 10 spots from 2006.