Basel Institute on Governance

Extreme weather events, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and epidemics cause the loss of countless lives and bring disruption to many countries. Governments and humanitarian aid agencies are expected to be at the forefront of preparing for and responding to such disasters.
 However, occasionally the scale and impact of some natural disasters are so large that additional resources beyond what governments can provide become necessary. In such cases, efforts may be perceived as insufficient and slow. Resources and efforts need to be augmented in order to provide relief and support to those who need it most.
 Could the private sector take a more leading role in pre- and post-disaster efforts? How could a structured, long-term engagement reduce the inevitable integrity risks in high-stress disaster situations involving numerous government, business and international actors?
 This Policy Brief looks at how the Philippines Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF) has emerged as a leading private-sector coordinator for disaster risk reduction and management.
 It illustrates the important role that the private sector can play in responding to – and building resilience to – natural disasters and other humanitarian emergencies. It also showcases how vital it is for good governance, integrity and transparent collaboration to be at the heart of those efforts.

At the 8th session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), in December 2019, States parties adopted a resolution recognising the relationship between corruption and environmental crimes. 
 Resolution 8/12 – Preventing and combating corruption as it relates to crimes that have an impact on the environment – is a landmark Resolution. With its 23 operative paragraphs (OPs), it underlies the importance of addressing corruption linked to crimes that have an impact on the environment. It urges States parties to prevent, investigate and prosecute corruption offences where they may be linked to crimes that have an impact on the environment. 
 This Working Paper report presents a concise overview of prevention and enforcement actions, initiatives and measures implemented by UNCAC States parties between 2019 and 2023 to combat corruption as it pertains to crimes that have an impact on the environment. Section 2 focuses on prevention and Section 3 on enforcement actions.
 Section 4 underscores the valuable contributions made by non-state actors, in particular civil society, academia and the media in this collective endeavour.
 The conclusion includes a list of promising initiatives for corruption prevention and enforcement.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the wide-reaching sanctions which ensued, many Western financial institutions began to de-risk Russian clients. Dealing with Russian clients, in many cases, has become expensive from a compliance point of view and toxic from the reputational side.
 However, the de-risking of unsanctioned Russian individuals may have a significant impact on the fight against financial crime by potentially causing:
 
 an increase in the use of shadow/unregulated channels of moving money;
 a withdrawal of funds away from the European zone to sanctioned countries or non-cooperative jurisdictions;
 severe burdens on the investigation of financial crimes (especially in relation to Russian assets and investments) and on international cooperation in criminal matters;
 increased opportunities for enablers, such as unscrupulous lawyers and accountants, to take advantage of the situation.
 
 This Policy Brief outlines the current situation and suggests how to better manage risk without having a negative impact on the fight against financial crime.

This working paper provides an overview and analysis of anti-corruption Collective Action case studies in the ASEAN region. It builds on the 2014 paper: Collective Action against Corruption: Business and Anti-Corruption Initiatives in ASEAN, which was published by the ASEAN CSR Network and the Asian Institute of Management.
 This 2023 paper reviews the initiatives featured in the 2014 paper and highlights new initiatives that have emerged in the region since then. It covers:
 
 Indonesia: Indonesia Business Links
 Malaysia: Corporate Integrity System Malaysia
 Philippines: Integrity Initiative and project SHINE
 Thailand: Collective Action Against Corruption
 Thailand: Anti-Corruption Organization of Thailand
 Vietnam: Vietnam Chamber of Commerce & Industry and its Office for Business
 
 The analysis identifies several success factors, while noting that Collective Action is a flexible approach that can and must be tailored to different contexts.

Allow me first to thank the organisers of this conference for affording me the honour of giving this opening speech.The issues which the conference is addressing indeed are closely interlinked. Corruption almost always leads to money laundering. And, increasingly, new criminal methods are being developed, in particular the use blockchain technology.From the perspective of the black-letter lawyer, though, we have become used to treating the topics of corruption and money laundering separately, because we focus on concrete offences – and rightfully so.However, if you apply a social sciences approach or, even more so, if you look at the field of challenges from a development assistance perspective, a much broader picture emerges.

En el presente artículo, el autor desarrolla el concepto de Integridad como aspecto fundamental en la lucha contra la corrupción. A partir de ello, desarrolla la propuesta de la construcción de un Sistema Nacional de Integridad con el objetivo de lograr una intervención más activa por parte del Estado en el fortalecimiento de su capacidad de prevención frente a la corrupción. En ese sentido, se define la estructura, los elementos y las perspectivas necesarias para la construcción de dicho sistema, todo en base a un Modelo de Integridad Pública propuesto por el propio autor.

This Problem Analysis is a review of the efficacy and opportunities for using social norm and behaviour change (SNBC) approaches to combat illegal wildlife trade (IWT) and other natural resource-related corruption.
 Behavioural science is a rich and expansive field that has received prominent coverage in recent years for the promise it offers as a foundational yet underutilised approach to achieving biodiversity conservation. Extensive literature shows how SNBC initiatives can help combat diverse corruption problems, although for those related to natural resource management the evidence for doing so is sparse.
 This report synthesises the available information and suggests the next steps to redress this current lack of evidence. It seeks to:
 
 Understand what SNBC approaches might or might not work in fighting corruption.
 Identify entry points for designing SNBC interventions that can effectively reduce corruption related to IWT.
 
 This Analysis has been produced in association with the Targeting Natural Resource Corruption (TNRC) project. The TNRC project is working to improve biodiversity outcomes by helping practitioners to address the threats posed by corruption to wildlife, fisheries and forests. TNRC harnesses existing knowledge, generates new evidence, and supports innovative policy and practice for more effective anti-corruption programming. Learn more at tnrcproject.org.
 This publication is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the United States Government, or individual TNRC consortium members.

This Working Paper is a key output of the Basel Institute's Green Corruption programme, a multi-disciplinary engagement that targets environmental degradation through tested anti-corruption, asset recovery and governance methods. The research is funded by PMI Impact as part of a wider project on intelligence-led on financial crime in illegal wildlife trade (IWT). The fight against wildlife trafficking is a global one. Wildlife trafficking constitutes the fourth-largest form of illicit trade flow in the world. Its prevalence is often explained in economic terms: it is a “low-risk, high-profit” trade. Global efforts are therefore directed at increasing the “costs” of wildlife trafficking and reducing the rewards. However, rational cost-benefit calculations by individuals seeking personal economic gain do not fully explain why wildlife trafficking is so prevalent. Nor, therefore, will it be solved by passing new laws and strengthening law enforcement alone. Scholars as well as development and law enforcement practitioners increasingly recognise the importance of considering the way in which the local context and socio-cultural structures (so-called behavioural drivers) influence the behaviours of individuals and their propensity to engage in wildlife trafficking. This social context is not only an anchor for decision-making but also influences the strategies through which wildlife trafficking is organised. Individuals are part of informal networks. Social connections in and between the networks facilitate the transportation of wildlife products from poachers to buyers across vast geographical spaces. Public officials can be part of such networks too. In such cases those individuals, rather than enforcing the law, use their position to cover up the trafficking of wildlife products out of parks, cities and ports in East Africa. This approach of emphasising context-sensitive behavioural drivers anchors the research activities that the Public Governance division is leading in Uganda as part of the wider programme of work of the Institute. Uganda is a hub for wildlife trafficking in East Africa. High volumes of wild animal products are transported into, through and out of Uganda using various methods and strategies. Taking a worm’s-eye perspective, the research aims to provide further understanding on: Why wildlife trafficking happens, by focusing on the economic and behavioural drivers of wildlife trafficking and the role of the broader governance environment in generating increased corruption risks in public offices mandated to prevent and combat wildlife trafficking. How wildlife trafficking happens, by focusing on the role and strategies employed by informal networks of poachers, middlemen and buyers to transport high volumes of wildlife products into, through and out of Uganda. The findings are based on 47 interviews with Ugandan-based and international anti-IWT experts (IGOs, NGOs, academics and public officials) and 8 focus group discussions with wildlife conservation and anti-corruption experts in Kampala, members of reformed poachers’ networks in Western Uganda, and individuals living around a wildlife habitat in Northern Uganda. Together, these provide context-specific insights on the drivers and facilitators of wildlife trafficking in Uganda. The present report synthesises their observations and aims to contribute to the development of evidence-informed approaches to curbing the trade.

Cryptocurrency regulations are developing fast. Across the world, authorities are reacting to the emerging threat posed by criminals using new payment methods to conceal and launder the proceeds of their crimes.
 However, as the application of anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) due diligence requirements becomes stricter and more entities implement preventative measures, criminals are constantly looking elsewhere for potential havens for their illicit activities.
 This Working Paper offers an insight into some potential consequences of changes in AML/CFT legislation in relation to cryptocurrency exchange services and virtual assets.

Anti-corruption Collective Action Initiatives (CAIs) are structured efforts that bring together private sector actors with other stakeholders with the aim of preventing corruption and improving the business environment in a particular context.
 The landscape of CAIs is extremely diverse. Differences cut across the type and number of stakeholders involved. Initiatives can be sector-specific or cross-sectoral. They can be applied at the community, country, regional or global level.
 This paper is based on two recent workshops in which a wide variety of international Collective Action practitioners shared their experiences, success factors and strategies for overcoming common challenges.
 For more information about Collective Action, see the B20 Collective Action Hub.