An academic who specialises in global corruption issues has urged policy-makers to stop trying to combat corruption by introducing new rules and spend more time determining the effectiveness of the regime already in place.
Speaking at the Jersey Finance Annual Private Wealth Conference 2017, Jason Sharman (pictured), Professor of International Relations at Cambridge University, suggested there was a mismatch between the cost of solutions being rolled out by governments, and the effect they were having in countering corruption.
He said the increase in legislation was not being driven by facts but by an “industry of numbers” that frequently overestimated the amount of illicit activity taking place.
Professor Sharman – author of The Despot’s Guide to Wealth Management, which sets out his research into corruption and the policies to tackle it – told delegates: “Policy-makers should stop introducing new rules and spend more time finding out to what extent the current ones are working.
"Often there is a real mismatch between the expense of solutions being proposed and the effect they are having or likely to have.
“Further, whilst there is a lot of talk from major developed countries about transparency, and public registers specifically, in a number of cases it is largely window dressing. Administrations around the world need to be able to investigate and access data, but the privacy of individuals must also be protected.”
Geoff Cook, CEO of Jersey Finance, said: “Whilst individuals absolutely have an obligation to pay their taxes where they are due, they also have a human right to personal privacy – the two are not mutually exclusive.
“With several major economies, notably the US, Hong Kong and Singapore, showing no real interest in public registries, there are real question marks as to whether they are the holy grail in countering financial crime.”