Fighting Pro-Russia Disinformation in the Western Balkans Requires Beneficial Ownership Transparency
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the threat of pro-Russian disinformation in media markets throughout Europe and Eurasia. Some Western Balkan countries like Montenegro have responded to this danger by banning Russian media outlets outright. But these kinds of policies will not be effective without greater media ownership transparency. Media ownership transparency would expose the… Read More
Photo Credit: Taylor & Francis Group “In contemporary Russia, entrepreneurs might be considered an endangered species,” writes former CIPE intern and current research scholar at George Mason University Yulia Krylova in her new book, Corruption and the Russian Economy: How Administrative Corruption Undermines Entrepreneurship and Economic Opportunities. Just as endangered animals are threatened by poachers… Read More
In the first half of 2014, anti-corruption enforcement actions by the U.S. alone cost the business community more than $500 million. It would seem logical that as a result anti-corruption compliance would be at the forefront of every multinational corporation’s activities. But that’s not the case, at least as described in the 2014 Global Fraud… Read More
As the world’s multinational companies seek profits in new, high-risk markets, they inevitably start depending on local businesses – third parties – to operate. Such partnerships bring with them both the promise of mutual growth and, for the multinational, responsibility for the behavior of its new local partner. That’s because aggressively applied laws such as… Read More
Without a strong compliance program, many smaller Russian firms could be locked out of lucrative contracts with big multinationals. By Henry Nelson In countries with weak rule of law, anti-corruption efforts suffer from a collective action problem: because bribery and corruption are endemic and occur frequently, individual small business owners hesitate to reform because they… Read More
Faced with a corrupt judicial system, what strategies do Russian businesses employ to resolve business disputes? Lately, less murder and more litigation. Faced with multinational firms who are liable under U.S. and U.K. laws for their Russian partners’ corrupt practices, how do Russian businesses gain access to international partners? Start putting in place anti-corruption compliance… Read More