Dear TIPS Member,
After years of campaigning from TI-UK and tremendous efforts from the TI-UK team in recent weeks, the UK Government passed the long-awaited Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act (the “Act”) on 14 March 2022. Among other things, the Act (i) increases the UK’s capacity to impose sanctions against oligarchs and intensify sanctions enforcement, (ii) introduces much-needed reforms to Companies House; and (iii) creates new powers to seize crypto assets. TI-UK’s latest newsletter provides a great overview of the impact of its efforts during an incredibly fast-moving legislative process.
Although this is a welcome development, further work needs to be done. TI-UK has launched a petition to close the loopholes still remaining in legislation, regulations and penalties for dirty money entering the UK. The petition calls for an end to secrecy for UK companies and offshore financial centres, stronger deterrents against professional enablers of corruption as well as more resources for law enforcement and regulators. We encourage you to:
· Sign TI-UK’s open letter to the UK government here.
· Share and like the TIPS Network’s campaign post on Linkedin.
Please see below the TIPS Newsletter for March 2022. We look forward to seeing you soon.
- the TIPS team
1. Upcoming Events (register on our Events page)
TIPS Virtual Talk | Corporate Responsibility and Ethics in Technology | 25 April 2022 | 7-8pm BST
Combatting Africa’s Growing Human Trafficking Crisis | 6 April 2022 | 1-2pm BST
Beyond Sanctions: What should financial services firms prepare for now? | 6 Apr 2022 | 9-9.20am BST
TIPS Outreach Virtual Event | Why Should We Care About Sanctions?| 27 April 2022 | 7-8pm BST
ESG Risk Management | 24 May 2022 | 4-5pm BST
2. Recent Events
TIPS Virtual Talk | Summary
On 28 March, 10 TIPS members attended an engaging discussion presented by ex-TIPS committee member Lolan Sagoe-Moses on the developments in the transparency and accountability space in Africa.
Lolan discussed why he recently launched the Africa Accountability Watch, an advocacy initiative for open governance and transparency in Africa. He also spoke about the Zondo Commission reports, the strength of African Justice systems and protests against corruption in the region. This was followed by an engaging Q&A.
Many thanks to Lolan for his great insights and to TIPS committee member Sandra Saadi for ably moderating!
Above: TI-UK's Open Letter to the UK Government, TIPS's March Event, and TIPS April Virtual Event.
3. Items of Interest
TI publications.
- Convention Evasion: Madagascar’s Plan to Pull Rosewood Stockpiles Out of Cities. See here.
- OCCRP: Russian Asset Tracker. See here.
TI blogs.
- Economic Crime Bill: Interim Measures Essential to Prevent Asset Flight. See here.
- Corruption stands in the way of women accessing land and basic services in Africa: What can be done? See here.
Podcasts.
- STR Podcast: Environmental, Social and Governance Policy Evolutions. James Ford and Alexandra Reid. Listen here.
- Kickback- The Global Anticorruption Podcast: Igor Logvinenko on corruption and the current sanctions in Russia. Listen here.
- U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre. Community-based anti-corruption and conversation. Listen here.
- The Economist. All that Xi wants: China’s Ukraine dilemma. Listen here.
Other items.
- Criminality Notwithstanding: the use of UWO’s in anti-corruption cases. Register here.
- The Art Market: a creative way to bypass Russian sanctions. See here.
- How the UK left it too late to fight financial crime. See here.
- RUSI: Targeted Sanctions and Organised Crime. See here.
- Is Collective Action against corruption a competition risk for companies? See here.
- Removing Russia from the OECD Working Group on Bribery would be a mistake with unintended consequences. See here.
- Why ESG investing is bad for human rights & what we can do about it. See here.
4. Jobs Board
Head of Business Integrity, TI-UK, London. See here.
Legal Compliance Manager, Wellcome Trust, London. See here.
Program Officer, Anti-Corruption and Governance Centre (ACGC), London. See here.
5. One Minute Reads
New One Minute Reads have been uploaded to the TIPS website. Please do click the link to read more – perfect for your morning/evening WFH coffee break!
6. Support TI-UK directly by joining Friends of TI-UK!
As a friend of TI-UK you will receive updates from TI-UK directly about TI-UK's ground-breaking research & advocacy campaigns. Your subscription will also support TI-UK's ongoing work across the UK, Business, Health, Defence & Security initiatives. Find out more here.
7. Focus on...
Alibek Moldaniyazov, TIPS Member
Senior Coordinator, West Kazakhstan
branch of the Academy of Public
Administration under the President
of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Why did you get involved with TIPS?
I became familiar with the TIPS Network in 2021 when I started looking at seminars and webinars focused on corruption. In February 2021, I started my career at the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan as a senior lecturer. Within my lectures, I teach civil servants across different topics such as corruption, integrity and transparency. I got involved in TIPS events to learn about new trends in corruption and related topics. I attend TIPS events regularly and am grateful for gaining new knowledge of the range of global anti-corruption topics. All the speakers and conversations have been very impressive so I am very happy to further my learning.
Please describe your experience as part of the TIPS Network.
I have a lot of experience participating in the TIPS events. As I mentioned above, all events were very informative, I have got invaluable knowledge and experience in anti-corruption policy. As a Senior Coordinator at the Academy, I am responsible for creating teaching programs for West-Kazakhstan’s civil servants. Currently, I am using my experience to create new teaching programs. As part of the TIPS network, I am also getting an excellent opportunity to meet many other members and experts globally. Taking part in the TIPS online events is simple and convenient.
Connect with Alibek on LinkedIn.