48. Gary Kalman on the Corporate Transparency Act & the Corruption Perception Index score in the USA

This second interview with Gary Kalman (director of the US office of Transparency International) The interview starts discussing the recently passed Corporate Transparency Act and what that progress on the issue of Beneficial Ownership means for anti-corruption efforts in the US. Gary outlines the unique strategies they applied to make headway on the issue and whether this strategy is scalable to other anti-corruption efforts. Gary describes some of the next top priorities in TI’s advocacy work besides successfully implementing the Corporate Transparency Act in order to avoid loopholes. He mentions the importance of addressing the role of gatekeepers in the financial system, dealing with the demand side of international bribery, and providing safe havens for whistleblowers. Matthew and Gary discuss corruption risks revealed during the Trump administration, zeroing in on the firing of inspectors general and look ahead to the anti-corruption efforts of the Biden administration. They also discuss what the decreasing scores of the USA in the Corruption Perception Index means and whether political polarization increases or decreases trust towards politicians, as well as checks and balances against corruption. Work of the FACT coalition (thefactcoalition.org/) Gary and Matthew then go on to discuss legislation on beneficial ownership in the US in comparison to other countries such as the UK where the registry is public. Such a law may have an enormous impact. Gary mentions an example of an undercover operation carried out by the NGO Global Witness that tried to found a company in the name of a corrupt businessman. 12 out of 12 collaborated some of which from highly respected law firms in New York City (for more in the story www.globalwitness.org/en/reports/loweringthebar/) The FACT Coalition: thefactcoalition.org/issues/incorpo…n-transparency