Governments must address corporate corruption, says report | Global development | guardian.co.uk

Governments must address corporate corruption, says report | Global development | guardian.co.uk

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A joint report by the World Bank and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) published on Monday urged governments to devote more resources to training investigators in fighting financial crime, including large-scale corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing.

According to the Stolen Asset Recovery (Star) initiative of the World Bank and the UNODC, most large-scale corruption cases involve using legal entities to conceal ownership and control of corrupt proceeds – hence the need for greater transparency to reduce opportunities for wrongdoing.

"We need to put corporate transparency back on the national and international agenda," says Emile van der Does de Willebois, a World Bank financial expert, leader of the Star research team behind the report on the corrupt use of legal structures. "It is important for governments to increase the transparency of their legal entities and arrangements, and at the same time improve the capacity of law enforcement."

The report, the Puppet Masters, examines how bribes, embezzled state assets and other criminal proceeds are being hidden via legal structures – shell companies, foundations, trusts and others. The study's release coincided with a UN conference on corruption in Marrakesh, Morocco, bringing together anti-corruption advocates and representatives from 154 states.

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