Beyond Harvey Weinstein: Sextortion Around the Globe
Harassment is now top US news - thanks to Weinstein - but millions of victims in poor countries are ignored - time to change this and act.
Read MoreAnti-Corruption • Ethics & Integrity
Frank has been engaged with global economics, banking, governance and anti-corruption for more than 40 years, as a journalist, as a World Bank senior official, as an anti-corruption civil society leader, and as a top level advisor to financial institutions. Frank is President of Vogl Communications, Inc., which has provided advice to leaders of international finance for more than two decades.
Harassment is now top US news - thanks to Weinstein - but millions of victims in poor countries are ignored - time to change this and act.
Read MoreThe need for honest politicians serving the public's interests is at the core of the American system of democracy. Nevertheless, in the US, as in every country, politics and corruption too often go hand-in-hand. Now a New York jury has brought in a historic set of verdicts. Will it change the New York game?
Read MoreThe more you dig into the details of the prosecutions that have been announced into world football (what is called soccer in the U.S.), so the more one understands the staggering scale of the conspiracies. “Let me be clear: this indictment is not the final chapter in our investigation,” stated Acting U.S. Attorney Kelly T. Currie of the Eastern District of New York. Indeed, there are likely to be many more cases, not just in the U.S. and Switzerland, but in other countries as well.
Read MoreZuzana Ruzickova was one of the few to survive Bergen-Belsen. Her years of Nazi concentration camps and following decades of Czechoslovak Communist Party oppression did not crush her determination to become one of the world's foremost performers of J.S. Bach - her life and her triumph is the subject now of a major documentary movie to be competed in late 2016. So this article looks at Bergen-Belsen's liberation.
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Finance Ministers of the Group of 20 leading global economies agreed to take measures against tax avoidance by giant global corporations at their meeting in Australia on September 20. This now needs to be seen by the G20 as a stepping stone towards far tougher and meaningful actions against illegal tax evaders, corrupt corporations and financial institutions that launder money for corrupt officials, politicians, criminal organizations and businesses.
Anti-Corruption Agencies (ACAs) have been established in increasing numbers of countries in recent years and have complemented the efforts by public prosecutors and the judiciary to curb corruption in their countries. Are they making a difference?
Read MoreDespite all the swagger of Russia's Putin and the pro-Russian sentiments of many citizens of Ukraine living in Crimea, the people of Ukraine remain angry about the staggering sums of cash allegedly stolen from them by the country's former government leaders and their cronies.
Read MoreThe image of the serene Avon Lady calling on charming housewives to sell beauty products is being replaced by a picture of hardened Avon executives across the developing world paying bribes to build their business.This is not a trivial matter. Avon is in trouble.
Read MoreWall Street's trumpets blasted in full force from the top of America's largest bank today to declare: all we care about is making money, even if that means breaking the law at times.
Read MoreAcross the world people have been asking why none of America’s top bankers went to jail for the crimes that caused the 2008 financial crisis. A leading New York judge now provides disturbing answers and underscores that none of the key bankers who caused the crisis will ever be criminally prosecuted.
Read MoreAcross the globe the call -- "End Corruption" -- is ringing loud. In the bitter cold of Ukraine's capital, Kiev, tens of thousands of citizens are demonstrating against the government of president Viktor Yanukovych. The protesters declared: "Out with the bandits!"
Read MoreAn 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.
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MoreRaging 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.
Read More....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...
Read MoreShining 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.
Read MoreHistorians 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.
Read MoreThe 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.
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