Legislation to Stop President, VP From Abusing Power to Steal Taxpayer Funds
On April 15, House and Senate Democrats introduced the Ban Presidential Plunder of Taxpayer Funds Act. The bill bars a sitting President or Vice President—and their immediate family or related entities—from receiving settlement payments from the United States. It also pauses administrative claims, imposes independent‑counsel safeguards for lawsuits, adds a cooling‑off period for a former VP who becomes President, and limits former officials’ claims to strict conditions.
From Diagnostic to Implementation: An Update From Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has moved anticorruption reforms from diagnostic to implementation, enacting legislation such as a Proceeds of Crime Act, amendments to the National Audit and Companies Acts, and launching a digital beneficial‑ownership register on March 31, 2026. The reforms were catalyzed by...
Transcript and Summary of Webinar on Challenges Facing the OECD Antibribery Convention
Former chairs of the OECD Working Group on Bribery warned that the Convention’s effectiveness is eroding due to the United States’ retreat from vigorous FCPA enforcement, weak EU anti‑corruption directives, and political interference in high‑profile Italian cases. They urged other...
Guest Post: Towards Truly Global Anticorruption Enforcement
The Trump administration paused enforcement of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in February 2025, sparking a crisis in global anti‑bribery enforcement. In response, the United Kingdom, France and Switzerland announced the International Anti‑Corruption Prosecutorial Taskforce, positioning Europe as...
Guest Post: Public Debt Confidentiality — Separating Fact From Fiction
The new brief co‑authored by NDI, OGP and Transparency International exposes how confidentiality clauses in sovereign loan contracts conceal billions of dollars of public debt. It cites cases such as Mozambique’s $2 billion hidden debt and Senegal’s recent audit, showing that...
Did Australia Just Set a Record for the Lowest Fine in a Foreign Bribery Case?
Former Leighton Holdings CEO David Savage pleaded guilty to concealing a $45 million bribe to Iraqi officials and was fined a symbolic AUD $1,000. The penalty is dramatically lower than sentences imposed on foreign intermediaries involved in the same scheme, who faced...