UK pledges crackdowns, coordinated effort during anti-corruption forum

World Today

At a major anti-corruption summit in London, plans have been announced for a Global Forum for Asset Recovery. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari called for more assistance in repatriating stolen funds.

Britain said it will crack down on declaring assets and tax evasion.

President Buhari was a keynote speaker, though he agreed that Nigeria is ‘fantastically corrupt.’

CCTV’s Olly Barratt reports from London

“An anti-corruption infrastructure and a strategic action plan that will include the monitoring, tracing and facilitating the recovery of stolen funds and assets hidden in secret accounts abroad,” President Buhari said.

He’s asked specifically for more British help in repatriating funds from the U.K. related to corrupt Nigerians.

The British government wants to take a lead in spearheading coordinated international efforts to fight corruption. But as it does so, it continues to face calls to get its own house in order

British Prime Minister David Cameron says the U.K. is demanding more transparency from its overseas dependencies and territories which have been accused of acting as tax havens.

Britain will also make foreign firms that own property in the U.K. declare assets, with the aim of cracking down on money-laundering.

And a series of countries are working together on more openness about the ownership of companies around the world.

If action does follow then the world’s corrupt politicians, individuals and corporations should begin to feel a little less comfortable.


Liu Baocheng talks about the fight against global corruption

For more on the fight against global corruption Mike Walter spoke with Liu Baocheng, dean of the Center for International Business Ethics (CIBE).