Corruption in Monaco still exists despite the principality's affluence and image as a haven for the wealthy. Problematic areas include challenges in maintaining transparency and integrity in governance structures. [1]
Corruption in Monaco still exists despite the principality's affluence and image as a haven for the wealthy. Problematic areas include challenges in maintaining transparency and integrity in governance structures. [1]
According to a report by the Council of Europe's Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO), Monaco's existing anti-corruption frameworks have weaknesses. Particularly, these include the lack of consistency and inadequate requisite guarantees of integrity. [2] The report, for instance, noted that there is a lack of transparency in the actions taken by all of the most senior posts in the executive, including the Sovereign Prince, currently Prince Albert II. This has been underscored because of the significant concentration of power on the executive branch, raising concerns about potential corruption at the highest echelons of Monaco's government. Potential corruption cases include conflict of interest, bribery, and misappropriation of public funds. [2]
There is also the case of Serge Telle’s administration, which saw the emergence of several corruption challenges. One of the most notable was the controversy about the Monaco-based consultancy, Unaoil. The scandal about its corrupt practices came to light the same year Telle assumed office. The company was accused of engaging in bribery in order to secure contracts for multinational oil companies. The scandal implicated several high-profile individuals in Monaco and around the world. [3]
Telle’s administration was criticized for its delayed response to the corruption allegations. His government only acted on it when the United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office flagged the case despite years of rumors about Unaoil corruption. [3] When pressed why his administration failed to investigate in the past, Telle declared that “all these things are dormant. That’s the very principle of corruption — everything is very hidden until someone ends up revealing the facts.” [3]
In 2020, months before Telle was replaced Pierre Dartout, GRECO released a report indicating Monaco's significant corruption challenges. These include the inability to prevent corruption among members of the parliament, judges, and prosecutors. Presently, there is no comprehensive code of conduct that governs officials such as members of the judiciary, which leads to potential abuse of power and other forms of graft and corruption.
Monaco has implemented a number of anti-corruption initiatives and the most significant of these was instituted to comply with international standards and evaluations set by GRECO. Key measures include the establishment of anti-corruption regulations at different governmental levels. To ensure the prevention of corruption and adherence to ethical standards, a compliance officer and ethics committee have been appointed. [4] The ethics committee oversees compliance as well as procedures that prevent conflict of interest that arise in the revolving door phenomenon. [5] This is supplemented by other policies such as the introduction of Sovereign Order no. 9.931, which prescribes ethical conduct required from government members.
There is a challenge in assessing the impact of the Monaguesque anti-corruption since Monaco is not listed in the main corruption monitoring index such as Transparency International and the World Bank’s Doing Business Rankings. [6] The country, however, had placed 72nd out of 197 territories in RAND Corporation’s Business Bribery Risk Assessment for 2019. [7]
Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain.
Transparency International e.V. (TI) is a German registered association founded in 1993 by former employees of the World Bank. Based in Berlin, its nonprofit and non-governmental purpose is to take action to combat global corruption with civil societal anti-corruption measures and to prevent criminal activities arising from corruption. Its most notable publications include the Global Corruption Barometer and the Corruption Perceptions Index. Transparency International serves as an umbrella organization. From 1993 to today, its membership has grown from a few individuals to more than 100 national chapters, which engage in fighting perceived corruption in their home countries. TI is a member of G20 Think Tanks, UNESCO Consultative Status, United Nations Global Compact, Sustainable Development Solutions Network and shares the goals of peace, justice, strong institutions and partnerships of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG). TI is a social partner of Global Alliance in Management Education. TI confirmed the dis-accreditation of the national chapter of United States of America in 2017.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom that investigates and prosecutes serious or complex fraud and corruption in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The SFO is accountable to the Attorney General for England and Wales, and was established by the Criminal Justice Act 1987, an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Police corruption is a form of police misconduct in which law enforcement officers end up breaking their political contract and abusing their power for personal gain. This type of corruption may involve one or a group of officers. Internal police corruption is a challenge to public trust, cohesion of departmental policies, human rights and legal violations involving serious consequences. Police corruption can take many forms, such as: bribery, theft, sexual assault, and discrimination.
The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is an index that scores and ranks countries by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, as assessed by experts and business executives. The CPI generally defines corruption as an "abuse of entrusted power for private gain". The index is published annually by the non-governmental organisation Transparency International since 1995.
The chief compliance officer (CCO) is a corporate executive within the C-suite responsible for overseeing and managing regulatory compliance issues within an organization. The CCO typically reports to the chief executive officer or the chief legal officer.
The Group of States against Corruption is the Council of Europe's anti-corruption monitoring body with its headquarters in Strasbourg (France). It was established in 1999 as an enlarged partial agreement by 17 Council of Europe member states.
Corruption in Armenia has decreased significantly in modern times, but remains an ongoing problem in the country. Despite this, fighting corruption following the 2018 Armenian revolution has recorded significant progress. Armenia is a member of the Council of Europe's Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO) and the OECD's Anti-Corruption Network and Armenia's anti-corruption measures are regularly evaluated within their monitoring mechanisms.
Corruption in Lithuania describes the prevention and occurrence of corruption in Lithuania.
Corruption in Switzerland describes the prevention and occurrence of corruption in Switzerland.
Corruption in Iceland describes the prevention and occurrence of corruption in Iceland.
Transparency International's 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index scored Germany at 78 on a scale from 0 to 100. When ranked by score, Germany ranked 9th among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 90, the average score was 43, and the worst score was 11. For comparison with regional scores, the highest score among Western European and European Union countries was 90, the average score was 65 and the lowest score was 42.
Corruption in Slovenia is examined on this page.
Corruption in Georgia had been an issue in the post-Soviet decades. Before the 2003 Rose Revolution, according to Foreign Policy, Georgia was among the most corrupt nations in Eurasia. The level of corruption abated dramatically, however, after the revolution. In 2010, Transparency International (TI) said that Georgia was "the best corruption-buster in the world." While low-level corruption had earlier been largely eliminated, Transparency International Georgia since 2020 has also documented dozens of cases of high-level corruption that remain to be prosecuted.
Unaoil is a Monaco based company which provides "industrial solutions to the energy sector in the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa." Unaoil is incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, a tax haven with an opaque banking system.
ISO 37001Anti-bribery management systems - Requirements with guidance for use, is a management system standard published by International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 2016. As the title suggests, this standard sets out the requirements for the establishment, implementation, operation, maintenance, and continual improvement of an anti-bribery management system (ABMS). It also provides guidance on the actions and approaches organizations can take to adhere to the requirements of this standard.
Anti-corruption comprises activities that oppose or inhibit corruption. Just as corruption takes many forms, anti-corruption efforts vary in scope and in strategy. A general distinction between preventive and reactive measures is sometimes drawn. In such framework, investigative authorities and their attempts to unveil corrupt practices would be considered reactive, while education on the negative impact of corruption, or firm-internal compliance programs are classified as the former.
Maritime anti-corruption initiatives have emerged in the last decades as a response to the growing threat of transnational corruption in the maritime domain, specifically in the shipping industry which is responsible for around 90% of world trade. In the past, paying bribes at ports to pass through customs was perceived as normal behavior, but such activities resulting in higher operational costs lead to increasingly stricter national and international anti-corruption regulations being put in place.
Corruption in Bhutan is considered relatively low. The small kingdom is noted for its Gross National Happiness index. The record of corruption in the country is also relatively low and the kingdom is the least corrupt country in the South Asian region. A low incidence of corruption still exists and the government has instituted reforms and initiatives to address them.
Corruption in Liechtenstein has been described as relatively low compared to other nations. This has been achieved by the small European principality through a strong and stringent legal framework and effective implementation mechanisms.
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