Why is the UK sitting on millions in recovered assets? TI-UK's new video, and more from across the coalition
A round-up of UK-focused research, reports and blogs from UKACC members, along with a look ahead at upcoming events.
Transparency International UK
Released a short video, Returning Stolen Money: Why Is the UK Sitting on Millions in Recovered Assets?, explaining the findings of its recent Closing the Loop research on how the UK handles assets recovered from corruption.
Spotlight on Corruption
Published analysis of a High Court ruling that the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) cannot force law firms to hand over legally privileged material during misconduct investigations, calling for new legislation to give both the SRA and the Financial Conduct Authority the investigative powers they need.
Published analysis of the latest government figures on asset recovery, released alongside the new Anti-Money Laundering and Asset Recovery (AMLAR) Strategy. While the amount recovered from criminals is rising, the piece argues that much more of it should be reinvested in the fight against dirty money, and makes the case for a dedicated Economic Crime Fighting Fund.
Centre for the Study of Corruption, University of Sussex
Entries from CSC's Dictionary of Corruption now feature in UKACC's new Glossary of Anti-Corruption Terms, an entry point for anyone looking to understand the key language of anti-corruption work.
Open Ownership
Held a virtual launch event for its new Beneficial Ownership Transparency Evidence Centre, an online library of research and real-world examples showing why it matters to know who really owns a company.
Coming up
Monday 28 September, 3–4pm (Liverpool): Transparency International UK and the Fabian Society host Whose Democracy Is It Anyway?, a panel on declining public trust in politics and the influence of mega-donors, with Stella Creasy MP, Baroness Margaret Hodge, Neal Lawson and Duncan Hames. Details here.
Wednesday 7 October, 1pm (online): The GI ACE programme, based at the Centre for the Study of Corruption, will host a seminar on how natural disasters such as floods affect corruption risks in public procurement. Mihaly Fazekas (Government Transparency Institute) and Marko Klasnja (Georgetown University) will share findings from an analysis of 2.5 million contracts across more than 3,000 municipalities in seven countries, including how greater transparency and scrutiny of disaster-related spending could help reduce corruption. Register here.
Tuesday 20 October, 1pm (online): The Centre for the Study of Corruption and GI ACE host a webinar on Corrupted Kingdom with Robert Barrington, chaired by Liz David-Barrett, exploring what corruption looks like in a liberal democracy and whether declining trust in UK politics can be reversed. Register here.