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Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain.
Bribery is the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With regard to governmental operations, essentially, bribery is "Corrupt solicitation, acceptance, or transfer of value in exchange for official action." Gifts of money or other items of value which are otherwise available to everyone on an equivalent basis, and not for dishonest purposes, is not bribery. Offering a discount or a refund to all purchasers is a legal rebate and is not bribery. For example, it is legal for an employee of a Public Utilities Commission involved in electric rate regulation to accept a rebate on electric service that reduces their cost for electricity, when the rebate is available to other residential electric customers. However, giving a discount specifically to that employee to influence them to look favorably on the electric utility's rate increase applications would be considered bribery.
Mark-to-market or fair value accounting is accounting for the "fair value" of an asset or liability based on the current market price, or the price for similar assets and liabilities, or based on another objectively assessed "fair" value. Fair value accounting has been a part of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in the United States since the early 1990s, and is now regarded as the "gold standard" in some circles. Failure to use it is viewed as the cause of the Orange County Bankruptcy, even though its use is considered to be one of the reasons for the Enron scandal and the eventual bankruptcy of the company, as well as the closure of the accounting firm Arthur Andersen.
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) is a United States federal law that prohibits U.S. citizens and entities from bribing foreign government officials to benefit their business interests.
In public corporate finance, a critical accounting policy is a policy of a firm or industry which is considered to have a notably high subjective element, and that has a material impact on the organization's financial statements. Such policies are often mandated to be described in detail in specific sections of a company's annual or quarterly reports. Adopting specific accounting policies and procedures is one method organization's use to ensure adequate controls and transparency in financial reporting, to minimize the risk of fraud.
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption may involve many activities which include bribery, influence peddling and the embezzlement and it may also involve practices which are legal in many countries. Political corruption occurs when an office-holder or other governmental employee acts with an official capacity for personal gain. Corruption is most common in kleptocracies, oligarchies, narco-states, and mafia states.
The Enron scandal was an accounting scandal involving Enron Corporation, an American energy company based in Houston, Texas. Upon being publicized in October 2001, the company declared bankruptcy and its accounting firm, Arthur Andersen – then one of the five largest audit and accountancy partnerships in the world – was effectively dissolved. In addition to being the largest bankruptcy reorganization in U.S. history at that time, Enron was cited as the biggest audit failure.
International asset recovery is any effort by governments to repatriate the proceeds of corruption hidden in foreign jurisdictions. Such assets may include monies in bank accounts, real estate, vehicles, arts and artifacts, and precious metals. As defined under the United Nations Convention against Corruption, asset recovery refers to recovering the proceeds of corruption, rather than broader terms such as asset confiscation or asset forfeiture which refer to recovering the proceeds or instrumentalities of crime in general.
Corruption in the United States is the act of government officials abusing their political powers for private gain, typically through bribery or other methods, in the United States government. Corruption in the United States has been a perennial political issue, peaking in the Jacksonian era and the Gilded Age before declining with the reforms of the Progressive Era.
Corruption represents an increasing issue across Canada. On Transparency International's 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index, Canada scored 74 on a scale from 0 to 100. This score continues a slow decline from Canada's 2012 score of 84. For comparison, the global average score in 2021 was 43. When ranked by score, Canada ranked number 13 among the 180 countries in the 2021 Index, where the country ranked number 1 is perceived to have the most honest public sector. Conflicts of interest within government, tax evasion, and the ease in which money can be laundered are among some of the leading factors of corruption in Canada.
Corruption is perceived as a significant problem in Russia, impacting various aspects of life, including the economy, business, public administration, law enforcement, healthcare, and education. The phenomenon of corruption is strongly established in the historical model of public governance, and attributed to general weakness of rule of law in the country. Transparency International stated in 2022, "Corruption is endemic in Russia" and assigned it the lowest score of any European country in their Corruption Perceptions Index for 2021. It has, under the regime of Vladimir Putin, been variously characterized as a kleptocracy, an oligarchy, and a plutocracy; owing to its crony capitalism economic system.
While hard data on corruption is difficult to collect, corruption in Indonesia is clearly seen through public opinion, collated through surveys as well as observation of how each system runs.
Corruption in Afghanistan is a widespread and growing problem in Afghan society. Transparency International's 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index ranks the country in 150th place out of 180 countries. The 180 countries of the Index are scored on a scale of 0 to 100 according to the perceived corruption in the public sector, and then ranked by their score. The country whose public sector is perceived to be most corrupt is ranked 180th. Afghanistan's 2022 ranking was based on a score of 24. For comparison, the best score was 90, the worst score was 12, and the average score was 43.
Corruption in France describes the prevention and occurrence of corruption in France.
Political corruption is a large concern in Spain. Political corruption is defined as the action or inaction of one or more real persons managing public resources for their own or a third party's benefit to the detriment of all the citizens they should serve and benefit. Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer 2013 shows that the surveyed households consider political parties, Parliament and the judiciary the most corrupt institutions. In fact, the Spanish population considers corruption their second biggest problem, only eclipsed by unemployment. Following Spain's return to democracy after the end of the Franco dictatorship, the judiciary became an independent branch of government. In the early part of the 21st century this independent judiciary is active in pursuing political corruption.
Corruption in the Czech Republic is considered to be widespread by a majority of the Czech public, according to Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer 2013.
Corruption in South Sudan is among the worst in the world. The nation's elites have developed a kleptocratic system that controls every part of the South Sudanese economy. This system has taken shape quickly in a relatively short period, South Sudan having won self-rule in 2005 while remaining part of Sudan, and having been accorded full sovereignty in 2011.
Corruption in Tajikistan is a widespread phenomenon that is found in all spheres of Tajik society. The situation is essentially similar to that in the other former Soviet republics of Central Asia. Reliable specifics about corruption can be difficult to come by, however, as can hard information about the effectiveness of supposed anti-corruption initiatives.
Corruption in Turkmenistan is considered by many independent sources as a serious problem. The country is near the bottom of several annual indices that measure corruption, including The Wall Street Journal's Index of Economic Freedom.
The term caixa 2 or saco azul are terms used in Brazil, and Portugal respectively, to refer to a type of slush fund involving unrecorded funds not reported to the appropriate supervisory tax organisms. Among the caixa dois crimes, money laundering and organized crime are within the scope of the Supreme Federal Court. Caixa dois is used by some companies that fail to issue required invoices or issue them with a lower value than the transaction that actually occurred, reducing their tax liability. By declaring a reduced value of the invoices to the tax authority, less tax is paid to the treasury. The amount held back and not paid, is "cashbox two", the portion "forgotten" by the financial accounting department of the enterprise.
References
- ↑ "Slush fund". Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved 4 Jun 2017.
- ↑ Law, Jonathan. A Dictionary of Finance and Banking, 5 ed. ed., 2014. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199664931.001.0001/acref-9780199664931-e-3516
- ↑ Wherry, Frederick F., ed. (2015). "Accounting, Critical". The SAGE Encyclopedia of Economics and Society.
- ↑ LaGesse, David (January 17, 2008). "The 1952 Checkers Speech: The Dog Carries the Day for Richard Nixon". U.S. News & World Report .
- ↑ Weiner, Tim (October 31, 1997). "Transcripts of Nixon Tapes Show the Path to Watergate". The New York Times .
- ↑ Fox, Lauren (2004). Enron: The Rise and Fall.
- ↑ "slush fund, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2016. Web. 8 September 2016.
- ↑ Garg, Anu. A.Word.A.Day mailing list, 2017-Mar-01. http://wordsmith.org/words/slush_fund.html