The second Summit for Democracy organised by the White House in late March included representatives from over 100 countries.The summit included a plenary day hosted from the United States and then four regional meetings in South Korea, Costa Rica, the Netherlands and Zambia.
Indo-Pacific Regional Meeting
The Indo-Pacific Regional Meeting held in South Korea was attended by the New Zealand Ambassador Designate Dawn Bennet and her team. TINZ was represented by Director Luke Qin.
The Indo-Pacific Meeting focused on anti-corruption, including financial transparency and international cooperation – recognising their critical importance for upholding democracy around the world.
In anticipation of this event, Transparency International’s national chapters from the Indo-Pacific region called for Indo-Pacific governments to take greater action against corruption. See Summit for Democracy and Indo Pacific call for action.
The livestream of day 1 includes Ambassador Bennet's presentation starting at 2.16, She mentions the TI Corruption Perceptions Index and the development of National Financial Crime and Corruption Policy by the SFO
US Commitment to Beneficial Ownership Transparency
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen gathered leaders from government, civil society, and international organisations to discuss countering corruption and illicit financial flows.
During the event she announced a commitment by the United States and more than twenty foreign governments and authorities participating in this summit to enhance beneficial ownership transparency in line with the revised FATF standard, which requires countries to improve the transparency of legal persons such as shell companies, and to prevent their misuse.
She reaffirmed the broad support that the United States and its democratic partners share for enhancing financial transparency, fighting corruption, and upholding the rule of law. Her complete remarks are available here.
New Zealand was not included as one of the over twenty foreign governments to enhance beneficial ownership transparency. We will follow that up with officials.
