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realilty of transparency far from ideals

By International Adviser, 10 Dec 12

Full transparency remains an elusive goal in most countries around the world, according to the latest annual report by Transparency International, which notes that 2012 has been a year of backward movement in many places, including parts of the Eurozone worst hit by the financial crisis.

Full transparency remains an elusive goal in most countries around the world, according to the latest annual report by Transparency International, which notes that 2012 has been a year of backward movement in many places, including parts of the Eurozone worst hit by the financial crisis.

“Genuine transparent political reforms” have also not taken hold in the so-called Arab Spring countries, in spite of democratic elections, and they “continue to languish towards the end of the scale…especially Egypt, which significantly dipped in its ranking”, the Berlin-based body said, in a statement outlining its findings.

The release of the annual ranking of 176 countries by perceived transparency has coincided with an unprecedented furore in the UK over the lack of transparency of the income and tax arrangements of large non-UK-based multinational corporations, such as Starbucks, Google and Amazon. It also comes at the same time as revelations that the UK is looking to require financial institutions in its Crown Dependencies to provide it with information on those of their clients who are UK taxpayers.

Most, least transparent

Denmark, Finland and New Zealand are perceived as the most transparent and least corrupt countries by those surveyed, according to the 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index (see below), helped, the organisation said in its overview, by “strong access to information systems and rules governing the behaviour of those in public positions”.

Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia, meanwhile, “once again cling to the bottom rung of the index”, due to their “lack of accountable leadership and effective public institutions”.

Among the 27 EU countries, Greece is seen as having the most corrupt public sector, with its global ranking falling to 94th this year from 80th place in 2011, reflecting its troubled economy.

A significant decliner in the corruption league table this year is China, which has seen its leadership’s probity questioned by a series of scandals, including the downfall of Bo Xilai, a high-flying politician whose wife was convicted of involvement in the murder of a British businessman.

The UK, by comparison, came in at 17th place, with a score of 74. 

To view the highlights of Transparency International’s 2012 findings, including the full list of countries in order of "perceived levels of public sector corruption", click here.

 

2012 Corruption
Perceptions Index
Rank
Country/territory
Score
1=
Denmark
90
1=
Finland
90
1=
New Zealand
90
4
Sweden
88
5
Singapore
87
6
Switzerland
86
7=
Australia
85
7=
Norway
85
9=
Canada
84
9=
Netherlands
84
11
Iceland
82
12
Luxembourg
80
13
Germany
79
14
Hong Kong
77
15
Barbados
76
16
Belgium
75
17=
Japan
74
17=
United Kingdom
74
19
United States
73
20=
Chile
72
20=
Uruguay
72

                            Source: Transparency Int’l

 

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