Geert Aalbers on Combating Corruption [Podcast]

Post By: Adam Turteltaub When it comes to battling corruption, different countries in Latin America (and elsewhere for that matter) have different capabilities from an enforcement perspective. As Geert Aalbers, Partner at Control Risks explains in this podcast, to provide a better understanding of the picture, Control Risks and America Society and Council of the Americas recently published The Capacity to Combat Corruption (CCC) Index. Rather than measure perceived levels of corruption, it ranks countries based on their ability to effectively combat corruption. Not surprisingly there is an enormous range, and ratings change over time. Since 2014 there has been an anti-corruption wave throughout the region with notable efforts such as Operation Lava Jato (carwash) in Brazil. Of late, though, he points out, that wave is losing force in some countries due to factors ranging from fatigue to a backlash by the political class. In addition, like elsewhere the pandemic is posing challenges in Latin America, and setting lose forces that are ripe for corruption. Governments are spending heavily and quickly, intermediaries are being used, and transactions are often not as transparent as many would like. In addition, governments may be moving funds around to pay for pandemic-related costs, reducing budgets for enforcement. Listen in to learn more about what’s going on across the region and some of the country-by-country comparisons on the fight against corruption.