Anti Corruption Summit – London 2016

London, 12 May 2016, UK Cabinet Office.

The Anti Corruption Summit has, for the first time, brought world leaders, civil society, businesses, sports bodies and international organisations together to make fighting corruption a global priority. Over forty countries and six international organisations are taking part.

The Global Declaration Against Corruption announces leaders’ shared ambition to expose corruption, pursue and punish the corrupt and support those affected by it, and drive out corruption wherever it exists.

The Anti Corruption Summit Communique sets out a common approach for achieving that ambition, agreed by participating countries and, where appropriate, international organisations.

The Anti Corruption Summit Participant Statements detail the concrete actions individual countries and international organisations will undertake to fight corruption now and in years to come.

To end the misuse of companies to hide the proceeds of corruption and evade tax:

  • 6 countries will establish public central registers of true company ownership (Afghanistan, France, Kenya, the Netherlands, Nigeria, UK) and six countries will explore doing so (Australia, Georgia, Indonesia, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway);
  • 11 new jurisdictions will join the group of 29 countries already committed to sharing information on true company ownership with each other (the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Anguilla, Jersey, the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Nigeria, UAE, Afghanistan, Mexico (Guernsey will join in due course));
  • 12 countries will support the development of a global commitment for large multinational enterprises to publicly disclose tax information on a country-by-country basis (Afghanistan, Australia, France, Georgia, India, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Russia, Spain, UK); and
  • 11 countries commit to enhance or review action against facilitators of tax evasion (Afghanistan, France, Italy, Ireland, Jordan, Kenya, Nigeria, Mexico, UAE, Singapore, UK).

To create stronger partnerships between the public and the private sectors to detect and prevent the flow of illicit funds through legitimate business channels:

  • 21 countries will establish or strengthen partnerships to improve tactical intelligence exchanges between law enforcement and the financial sector (Afghanistan, Australia, Argentina, Colombia, France, Georgia, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, UAE, UK, USA, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland); and
  • 11 will explore how this information can be shared across borders (Afghanistan, Australia, France, Georgia, Italy, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Singapore, UAE, UK).

To keep public money out of corrupt hands:

  • 13 countries will apply the highest standards of transparency to public contracting by implementing the Open Contracting Data Standards (Afghanistan, Argentina, Bulgaria, Colombia, France, Georgia, Italy, Malta, Mexico, Nigeria, Romania, UK, US);
  • 8 countries will have their fiscal transparency independently evaluated by the International Monetary Fund (Afghanistan, Georgia, Italy, Malta, Mexico, Nigeria, Switzerland, UK);
  • 12 countries will establish mechanisms to prevent corrupt bidders form winning public contracts (Afghanistan, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Malta, Mexico, Nigeria, Romania, UK) and more will explore how to share information on corrupt bidders

To ensure the corrupt are brought to justice:

  • Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the UK, the USA, Singapore and Switzerland will found an International Anti Corruption Coordination Centre, based in London to coordinate efforts to prosecute the corrupt and seize stolen assets;
  • 21 countries will strengthen or reinforce legislation to ensure stolen assets can be recovered (Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, India, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Republic of Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, UK);
  • 11 countries will develop guidelines for the transparency and accountable return of stolen assets (Afghanistan, Argentina, France, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Nigeria, Spain, UK); and
  • there will be a new Global Asset Recovery Forum in 2017, hosted by the USA and the UK, focussing on Nigeria, Ukraine, Sri Lanka and Tunisia.

To ensure that there is no place for corruption in sport:

  • 19 countries will work with international sports bodies to promote high standards of integrity and transparency in sport (Afghanistan, Colombia, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Japan, Jordan, Malta, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Korea, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, UK).

To promote the integrity of our institutions and drive up standards in sectors such as tax, customs, extractives, fiscal transparency and the judiciary:

  • 19 countries will establish practitioner partnership programmes to engage in secondments, missions, mentoring and more (Afghanistan, Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Ghana, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Tanzania, UK, USA).

To promote effective governance and accountability mechanisms for the extractives industry:

  • 13 countries will work to enhance the transparency of payments made to government for oil, gas and minerals (Afghanistan, Australia, Georgia, Ghana, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, UK).

To harness new technology and behavioural science to prevent and combat corruption:

  • 16 countries will join an Anti Corruption Innovation Hub (Afghanistan, France, Georgia, Ghana, Indonesia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Switzerland, Tanzania, UAE, UK, USA).

Major international organisations, including the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Commonwealth Secretariat, will support efforts to implement these measures and embed this agenda in their ongoing work. The United Nations will convene a meeting to follow up on this agenda alongside the 2017 General Assembly.