Jeanne M. Hauch

Cari L. Votava

Francesco Clementucci

Natural resources have the transformational potential to support economic and political stability as well as contribute to national prosperity and economic development. However, in countries dependent upon natural resource sectors, poor management of these sectors often contributes to corruption, illicit financial flows (IFFs) and thus, poverty. Adequate transparency and accountability in regulatory management of these sectors is a challenge for resource rich countries. Poor licensing decisions in natural resource management can open a pandora’s box of corruption risks. This manual provides methods and options based on good practices to improve transparency, accountability, and integrity in the regulatory licensing process and integrity due diligence. The manual borrows models from the Basel Core Principle ‘fit and proper’ concept, and provides options for conducting effective (a) beneficial ownership; (b) criminal/legal; and (c) conflicts of interest checks, with a goal of integrating these into the regulatory licensing process. The manual also identifies common legal framework defects that can facilitate corruption risks, and offers options based on principles of regulatory integrity to reduce these risks. The good practices identified can help countries allocate limited financial resources in conducting thorough background checks in a cost-effective manner, as well as meet EITI’s requirements for public disclosure of beneficial owners and politically exposed persons. These strategies for reducing opportunities for corruption in extractive sectors can help reduce IFFs that can sap resources from the economy and inhibit a country’s ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

A Manual on Integrity Due Diligence for Licensing in Extractive Sectors

License to Drill

Ji Won Park

Jacinta Anyango Oduor

Francisca M.U. Fernando

Agustin Flah

Dorothee Gottwald

Marianne Mathias

Oliver Stolpe

Over the past decade, countries have increasingly used settlements that is, any procedure short of a full trial to conclude foreign bribery cases and have imposed billions in monetary sanctions. There exists a gap in knowledge, however, regarding settlement practices around the world and the disposition of these monetary sanctions notably through the lens of recovery of stolen assets. Left out of the Bargain, a study by the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative (StAR), provides an overview of settlement practices by civil and common law countries that have been active in the fight against foreign bribery. Using the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) as its point of reference, the study addresses concerns voiced by the international community: What happens to the money associated with the settlements, and is it being returned to those most directly harmed by the corrupt practices? And what can be done to assist those countries harmed by foreign bribery? Left out of the Bargain has found that 395 settlement cases took place between 1999 and mid-2012, resulting in a total of US$6.9 billion in monetary sanctions imposed against companies and individuals. Of this amount, nearly US$6 billion came from settlements that took place in a country different from that of the allegedly bribed foreign public officials. But only about US$197 million, or 3 percent, has been returned or ordered returned to the countries whose officials were accused of accepting bribes. Left out of the Bargain urges countries whose officials were allegedly bribed to intensify their efforts to investigate and prosecute the providers and recipients of foreign bribes, hence improving these countries' prospects for recovery of assets lost through corruption. The study also calls for more proactive international cooperation and coordination to ensure that all affected countries are afforded the opportunity to seek redress for harms suffered and for the recovery of assets thus fulfilling the principles set out in UNCAC.

Settlements in Foreign Bribery Cases and Implications for Asset Recovery

Left Out of the Bargain

Jeanne M. Hauch

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