TIPS Newsletter | June 2025 - TI-Defence: Corruption as a Threat to International Peace and Security and upcoming events

Dear TIPS Member,

In June 2024, TI-Defence published the report ‘Sabotaging Peace: Corruption as a Threat to International Peace and Security which highlights how corruption, particularly in the defence and security sectors, undermines global peace efforts. It argues that corruption fuels armed conflict, enables organised crime, facilitates illicit arms flows, and weakens post-conflict peacebuilding. Despite its critical impact, corruption is often overlooked in peace and security agendas.

The report presents case studies from Afghanistan, Mali, Sudan, Ukraine, and others, showing how corruption distorts governance, empowers violent actors, and erodes public trust. It stresses that defence corruption is not just a governance issue but a direct driver of insecurity. The global arms trade, rife with opaque deals and weak oversight, is especially vulnerable to corruption, exacerbating conflict and human rights abuses.

Key recommendations include recognising corruption as a core threat to peace, embedding anti-corruption in security sector reform, improving arms transfer transparency, and strengthening civil society oversight. The report calls for coordinated international action, robust whistleblower protections, and inclusive governance to disrupt entrenched corrupt networks. Ultimately, it urges a shift from treating corruption as a secondary concern to addressing it as a central pillar of peacebuilding and conflict prevention.

Please see below the TIPS Newsletter for June 2025. We look forward to seeing you soon.

 - the TIPS team

---

Upcoming Events

TIPS | TIPS x EQS Summer Social | 10 July 2025 | 6-10pm BST | London

Register here.

TIPS | Forensic & Investigation Workshop | 29 July 2025 | 6:30-8pm BST | London

Register here.

TL4 | Asset Recovery in the Americas: Legal Tools, Regional Synergies, and Political Realities | 17 July 2025 | 4-5pm BST | Online

Register here.

Ukraine Recovery Conference | 10-11 July 2025 | Rome

Register here.

---

Recent Events

TIPS | Bribery and corruption in the infrastructure sector | 26 June 2025, 6:30-9pm GMT | London

On 26 June, the TIPS Network welcomed Alex Katon of GIACC-UK and Nicole Geoghegan of Costain Group PLC.

Together, Alex and Nicole explored the infrastructure is prone to bribery and corruption, recent corruption cases to highlight that these risks are ever-present, how the cost of corruption cannot be understated, and personal value systems.

We thank Molly Vaughan for facilitating the session and Nardello & Co. for kindly hosting.

---

Items of Interest

TI publications

-        Restoring Trust in Scotland’s Democracy. See here.

TI blogs

-        Financial Action Task Force (FATF)’s 'grey-listing' of the British Virgin Islands and important step for financial transparency. See here.

-        Returning Bangladesh’s missing billions. See here.

-        From policy to practice: Building whistleblower systems that work. See here.

-        Organisations that hear their people, earn their trust. See here.

-        Climate integrity in action: Stories of reform and lasting impact. See here.

Other items

-        Formal Review of Italy’s Compliance with OECD Antibribery Convention Requested. See here.

-        Causes and Trends of Corruption Risk in Europe. See here.

-        “We Couldn’t Avoid Him”: Why Serbian Journalists Have Spent 10 Years Investigating One Man. See here.

-        Rethinking Whistleblowing in the Age of Global Sanctions. See here.

-        Press release: Anti-corruption campaigners demand action on suspected dirty money from Bangladesh in the UK. See here.

-        Kickback – The Global Anticorruption Podcast. 134. Oguzhan Dincer & Michael Johnston on Corruption in America. Listen here.

---

Jobs Board

Senior Lawyer, Litigation, BBC, London. See here.

Director, Investigations and Intelligence, Competition & Markets Authority, UK. See here.

---

A Focus On…

Hormis Kallarackel

Associate at Mayer Brown

Why did you get involved with the TIPS Network

As a lawyer focusing on White Collar Defence, ABC and more recently BHR matters, I wanted to build my peer network both within the legal field and related professions. My office is just around the corner from James Ford, one of the TIPS co-chairs, who (quite rightly) never ceases to sing the praises of TIPS.

Please describe your experience as part of the TIPS Network

TIPS has provided a great forum for me to: (i) learn more about the latest developments in the areas I am interested in; (ii) gain insights from practical experiences of colleagues from various industries; and (iii) most importantly, meet lots of lovely new people who share a common interest and purpose.

Connect with Hormis here.