{"id":1524,"date":"2021-02-05T17:49:15","date_gmt":"2021-02-05T21:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ielrblog.com\/?p=1524"},"modified":"2021-02-05T17:49:15","modified_gmt":"2021-02-05T21:49:15","slug":"bill-introduced-to-counter-foreign-corruption-and-promote-good-governance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/02\/05\/bill-introduced-to-counter-foreign-corruption-and-promote-good-governance\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Introduced to Counter Foreign Corruption and Promote Good Governance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On February 4, 2021, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss), incoming Chair of the U.S. Helsinki Commission and Co-Chair, respectively, re-introduced legislation that would strengthen the U.S. Government\u2019s anti-corruption initiatives.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cardin.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/CROOK%20Act.pdf\">S.158, the Countering Russian and Other Overseas Kleptocracy Act, or CROOK Act,<\/a> would create an anti-corrupt action fund to furnish additional funding targeting reform in foreign countries and streamlining work supporting the rule of law abroad.<\/p>\n<p><em>Substance of the CROOK Act<\/em><\/p>\n<p>As explained by its authors, the anti-corruption fund established in the CROOK Act <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cardin.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press\/release\/cardin-wicker-introduce-bill-to-counter-corruption-and-promote-good-governance-#:~:text=158%2C%20the%20Countering%20Russian%20and,the%20rule%20of%20law%20abroad.\">would help countries where U.S. assistance could significantly increase the opportunities of successfully transitioning to democracy, combating corruption, and establishing the rule<\/a>.\u00a0 For instance, in 2014, Ukraine established important reforms.\u00a0 In 2018, Ethiopia made important reforms after the election of a new Prime Minister.\u00a0 After the December 2018 parliamentary election, Armenia made reforms.\u00a0 The fund would provide a mechanism to allocate aid and take advantage of new political will more quickly. \u00a0The financing for the fund would come from a $5 million surcharge to individual companies and entities that receive a $5 million criminal fines and penalties above $50 million for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).<\/p>\n<p>S. 158 would create several complementary mechanisms to have a whole-of-government approach to U.S. efforts to fortify the rule of law abroad. These include an interagency taskforce;<a href=\"#_ftn1\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a> the designation of embassy anti-corruption points of contact to liaise with the task force; reporting requirements designed to combat corruption, kleptocracy, and illicit finance; and a consolidated online platform for easy access to anti-corruption reports and materials.<\/p>\n<p>In its introduction, the CROOK Act mentions systematic corruption in both Russia and China, and their pernicious effects on the U.S. and the world.<\/p>\n<p>The CROOK Act expressly mentions the work of technical assistance programs that combat \u00a0corruption and strengthen the rule of law.\u00a0 The latter includes\u00a0 through assistance provided by the Department of \u00a0State\u2019s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law \u00a0Enforcement Affairs and the U.S. Agency for International Development, and through programs like the Department of Justice\u2019s Office of \u00a0Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and \u00a0Training and the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program.\u00a0 These programs can have lasting \u00a0and significant impacts for both foreign and U.S. interests.<\/p>\n<p>Quickly civil society organizations, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/us.transparency.org\/resource\/crook-act-s-3026-letter-of-support\/\">Transparency International U.S., endorsed the bill.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Analysis<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The bill will help bring a more whole-of-government approach to U.S. anti-corruption policy.\u00a0 It seems strange that so much emphasis in the bill and its marketing is on systematic corruption in two countries that coincidentally are U.S. rivals \u2013 Russia and China.\u00a0 It follows a legislative trend.\u00a0 Sec. 5506 of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/congressional-record\/2020\/06\/25\/senate-section\/article\/S3326-1\">the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) of 2020<\/a>, which is part of the National Defense Authorization Act, calls for Treasury study and strategy on money laundering by China, especially on the extent and effect of illicit finance risk concerning China and Chinese firms.\u00a0 The latter includes financial institutions, an assessment of the illicit finance risks emanating from China, and a strategy to counter these money laundering activities.\u00a0 Sec. 5507 of the AMLA requires a\u00a0 study and report to Congress on how authoritarian regimes in foreign countries and their proxies use the U.S. financial system to conduct political influence operations, sustain kleptocratic methods of maintaining power, export corruption, fund nongovernmental organizations, media organizations, or academic initiatives in the U.S., and undermine democratic governance in the U.S. and the partners and allies of the U.S.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\">[1]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The inter-agency task force will be composed of representatives appointed by \u00a0the President from appropriate departments and agencies, \u00a0including the State Department, U.S.A.I.D., \u00a0the Treasury Department, the Justice Department, Homeland Security, the Defense Department, the Commerce \u00a0Department, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the intelligence community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On February 4, 2021, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss), incoming Chair of the U.S. Helsinki Commission and Co-Chair, respectively, re-introduced legislation that would strengthen the U.S. Government\u2019s anti-corruption initiatives.\u00a0 S.158, the Countering Russian and Other Overseas Kleptocracy Act, or CROOK Act, would create an anti-corrupt action fund to furnish additional [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[79,88,77,85,44,4,80,3,11,63],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1524","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-corruption","7":"category-international-cooperation","8":"category-international-criminal-law","9":"category-international-human-rights-and-magnitsky-act","10":"category-international-tax-regime","11":"category-money-laundering-and-bank-secrecy","12":"category-national-security","13":"category-transnational-corruption-money-laundering-and-asset-forfeiture","14":"category-transnational-organized-crime-cybercrime-narcotics","15":"category-transparency-and-governance","16":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- 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