Corruption is the cancer at the heart of so many of the world’s problems. It erodes trust, undermines stability, and breeds injustice. It’s costly in so many ways — estimates by the World Economic Forum show that corruption sets the global economy back by $2.6 trillion. And the World Bank has estimated that corruption adds to global business costs by up to 10%.
But there are solutions. As Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once wrote, “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.”
It is in the same spirit that today Prime Minister David Cameron hosts a landmark international anti-corruption summit in London, the first of its kind.
World leaders, business and civil society will come together with the goal of agreeing on practical steps to expose corruption, punish perpetrators, support those affected, and drive out the culture of corruption wherever it exists.
We have long been leaders in this area. Last year, the UK government was voted the most open and transparent in the world. At home, we’ve revolutionized the way we share data, with intuitive and interactive technology. We’ve passed an act on bribery that has been described as “the toughest anti-corruption legislation in the world.”
And we’ve been forthright on the international stage. In 2011, we were a founding member of the Open Government Partnership. In 2013, we put trade and transparency at the top of the G8 agenda. In the UK, we’ve invested more than $270 million over the next three years to help developing countries investigate and prosecute corruption and hold governments to account.
The release of Panama Papers has shown that the days of hiding are gone. The UK, alongside other governments, is investigating the financial wrongdoings alleged in the Panama Papers. We will be relentless in ensuring there are no safe havens for tax evaders. As a result of our international leadership on tax transparency, more than 90 countries will automatically exchange financial account information, giving governments access to data on billions of dollars worth of assets held offshore.
We’re already making headway. Since 2010, we have brought in around $3 billion from offshore tax evaders. We’re investigating more than 1,100 cases of offshore evasion around the world. And we’ve strengthened our powers and resources with higher penalties and new criminal offences, protecting nearly $9 billion through criminal investigations since 2010, with 2,647 convictions and prison sentences totalling 3,125 years.
But these accomplishments cannot stand on their own. Corruption is an enemy that the international community has ignored for too long. It is the responsibility of governments like mine, and businesses like yours, to face this problem openly, and solve it together. We must work together to strengthen our own laws, and laws of our partners around the world. And we must ensure that those who are corrupt are held accountable.
As the Prime Minister has said, “Together, I believe we can defeat the cancer of corruption in all its forms and with it, strike the biggest blow for our generation in the struggle to ensure greater prosperity and greater security in every part of the world.”