Every day, governments around the world give authorisation for the export and transfer of weapons. These decisions affect the lives of millions of people. In some cases, these arms transfers undermine development, by fuelling conflict and armed violence, threatening peace-building efforts, or when they involve excessive unaccountable spending. Such spending can divert vital funds from public services such as education and health care, and when such spending takes place without accountability and more...

Summary of findings:

· The Open Budget Survey 2008 finds that, overall, the state of budget transparency around the world is deplorable. In most of the countries surveyed the public does not have access to the comprehensive and timely information needed to participate meaningfully in the budget process and to hold government to account.

· The Open Budget Survey provides government officials, legislators, development practitioners, civil society organizations, journalists, and research more...

Many countries in Asia resist adopting better governance measures because it is the inefficiency and lack of transparency when issuing government licenses and permits that enable them to reap personal gains, a top Singaporean Minister has declared…

This project focuses on Political Regime Characteristics and Transitions from 1800 to 2007, building on three previous projects. It provides data 163 countries as this is written. George Mason University.

Transparency International commissioned Prof. Dr J. Graf Lambsdorff of the University of Passau to produce the CPI table.

Privacy is a key component of individual autonomy, and a voluminous literature has established both its practical value in healthcare contexts and its status as a fundamental, but not absolute ethical right. Because the Right to Information Act (2005) permits citizens to gain information under government control, it might be thought to threaten the privacy of patients and research subjects, especially those in government institutions. It is important for clinicians, administrators, information o more...

'This paper analyses the relationship between low pay and corruption in developing countries, using studies from public hospitals in Latin America.One of the most important ways that pay can deter corruption is if it increases the penalty of being caught and dismissed. If an individual earns a premium in their job above what they would otherwise earn in another job, then that premium is at risk if that individual should commit fraud and be caught and dismissed.'

The Caribbean has tried for years to shed its image as a refuge for tax dodgers and money launderers where travelers arriving with large amounts of cash were welcomed with open arms and even offered police escorts to their local bank.

But suspicions about the region's booming offshore banking and financial sector still run deep.

'If it was not for bank secrecy, the offshore havens in the Caribbean would be fishing communities again,' said Charles Intriago, a former U.S. federal prosecutor more...

The document was issued by the OECD Secretariat at the conclusion of the G20’s London Summit. It is a progress report on the implementation of the internationally agreed tax standard that identifies. (i) jurisdictions that have substantially implemented the standard, (ii) other jurisdictions that have committed to but not yet implemented the standard, (iii) tax havens that have committed to but not yet implemented the standard, and (iv) jurisdictions that have not committed to the standard.
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Real estate is an important strategic sector in most economies–just think of the links to construction or the importance of property in the investment portfolios of pension funds. But it is also vulnerable to abuse for money laundering and tax fraud.