State Capture and Development
2024-10-01 13:00 - 14:00 (Europe/London)
State capture is an extremely harmful variant of corruption. Its distinctive and complex characteristics erode democratic institutions and norms, while concentrating power and influence in the hands of narrow interest groups – in business, politics, or organised crime.
This session explained how the concept has evolved, its mechanisms, and potential recovery strategies. It showcased a new worldwide state capture index which turns conventional measures of corruption upside down and highlights the prevalence of this challenge in high-income countries as well.

SPEAKERS
Daniel Kauffman, Sr Fellow, Results for Development and the Governance Action Hub
Elizabeth David-Barrett, Deputy Director (Research) at GI ACE and Director at CSC, University of Sussex

Watch here: https://youtu.be/MpIpqiDjrLo

Tackling Corruption at the Sector Level
2024-11-07 17:00 - 18:00
Sector-Based Action Against Corruption: A Guide for Organisations and Professionals is a book by Mark Pyman and Paul Heywood. It sets out their SFRA approach to tackling corruption, encompassing four core elements. First, they argue corruption problems should be tackled at the level of the specific sector (like health, policing, or agriculture). At this level, professionals working in organisations have deep knowledge, extensive operational experience, and expertise that can be used to solve, minimize, or avoid corruption problems in their given setting. Second, they advise you to focus on specific corruption issues, not generalities. Unlike the impossibly complex aim of addressing corruption at the country level, this sector-based model focuses on more manageable manifestations of corruption. The authors provide sector-specific typologies of corruption issues and show how they can be used to understand which ones matter most and why. Third, they set out remediation options, using a two-track matrix combining a high-level framing to encapsulate the more political options with a wide range of detailed measures. Finally, using a range of different ‘lenses,’ they set out how to decide which combinations of broad framings and detailed measures represent the best action to take.

SPEAKERS
Paul M. Heywood, Programme Director at GI ACE and Sir Francis Hill Chair of Politics, University of Nottingham
Andrew Hayward, Group Head of Compliance and Ethics Subsea 7 S.A.
Elizabeth David-Barrett, Deputy Director (Research) at GI ACE and Director at CSC, University of Sussex

Watch here: https://youtu.be/AZ96uYzDoeg

The RIFF dataset launch: 30-years of financial secrecy and AML reform trends
2024-12-11 08:00 - 09:00
Join us for the launch of the groundbreaking Regulation of Illicit Financial Flows (RIFF) dataset.
Join us for the launch of the groundbreaking Regulation of Illicit Financial Flows (RIFF) dataset—the most comprehensive resource to date tracking long-term change in the global IFF regulatory landscape. Developed with support from the GI ACE programme and the Tax Justice Network, the RIFF dataset provides annual data on 23 regulatory indicators across 70 jurisdictions from 1990 to 2020. This session will explore key findings, including trends in anti-money laundering (AML), countering the financing of terrorism (CFT), and beneficial ownership transparency. Discover how international regulatory convergence is reshaping the IFF regulatory landscape in some areas, while key gaps persist in others. Ideal for policymakers, researchers, and civil society organizations aiming to deepen their understanding of efforts to combat illicit financial flows and boost financial transparency.
About the Speakers
Daniel Haberly is a Senior Lecturer in Human Geography in the School of Global Studies at the University of Sussex, and the co-author of Sticky Power: Global Financial Networks in the World Economy (Oxford University Press). His work examines the architecture, evolution and governance of global financial networks, and in particular offshore and illicit financial networks. Since 2019 he has been the principal investigator in three phases of a UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office-funded Governance and Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence (GI-ACE) project which has systematically mapped and analyzed multiple types of illicit global financial networks and related global regulatory regimes.
Alex Cobham is an economist and chief executive of the Tax Justice Network, and recently served as a Commissioner for the Scottish Government’s Poverty and Inequality Commission. Alex’s research has focused on illicit financial flows, effective taxation for development, and inequalities, variously at Oxford University, Christian Aid, Save the Children, and the Center for Global Development, and he has consulted widely, including for UNCTAD, the UN Economic Commission for Africa, the UN Economic and Social Commission for West Asia, DFID, and the World Bank. Published books include The Uncounted (Polity Press) and Estimating Illicit Financial Flows: A Critical Guide to the Data, Methodologies, and Findings, with Petr Janský (Oxford University Press, open access). His new book, What Do We Know and What Should We Do About… Tax Justice? is published by SAGE.
Liz David-Barrett is Professor of Governance and Integrity at the University of Sussex and Director of the Centre for the Study of Corruption. Her research focuses on corruption risks at the interface of business and government, including in state capture, public procurement and bribery in international business – and on approaches to countering these risks, including transnational governance networks in law enforcement and investigative journalism.
Recent co-edited books include the Dictionary of Corruption (2023, Agenda, with Robert Barrington, Rebecca Dobson Phillips and Georgia Garrod) and Understanding Corruption: How Corruption Works in Practice (2022, Agenda, with Robert Barrington, Sam Power and Dan Hough). Liz engages widely with anti-corruption practitioners globally, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean and Europe, and has advised the UK government and the G20 on their international anti-corruption work.
Before becoming an academic, Liz worked as a journalist in the Balkans for The Economist and Financial Times. In 2022-23, she was Head of the Global Programme on Measuring Corruption at the International Anti-Corruption Academy. She has a DPhil, MSc and MA from the University of Oxford and an MA from the University of London.
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Ethical Leadership: Lessons from Ethics Training in the Global South
2025-01-27 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom Event
In this session Jan Meyer-Sahling discusses his work exploring ethical leadership training as a tool to combat corruption, drawing on evidence from Nepal and Bangladesh. The findings demonstrate that ethics training, often overlooked in the Global South, can drive behaviour change, reshape attitudes, and support the modernisation and professionalisation of public services. Much of this work was developed through research projects funded by GI ACE. ‘Civil Service Reform and Anti-Corruption Project’ (funded under Phase 1 of the ACE programme) sought to identify which civil service management practices are effective in reducing corruption in the civil service. To shed light on this question, the project conducted civil service surveys in ten countries in four developing regions. With 23.000 participants, it produced the largest cross-country survey of bureaucrats in developing countries ever conducted. Among other findings, the survey showed that one common management practice—ethics training—does not correlate with lower corruption or more ethical behaviour of civil servants. In response, several governments asked for guidance on how to design effective ethics trainings for civil servants. A subsequent phase of the project provided evidence of the effects of such trainings, surveying corruption and (un)ethical behaviour of 1,200 civil servants in Nepal and Bangladesh over time while providing state-of-the-art ethics training.

SPEAKERS
Paul M. Heywood, Programme Director at GI ACE and Sir Francis Hill Chair of Politics, University of Nottingham
Jan Meyer-Sahling, Professor of Political Science, University of Nottingham
Willeke Slingerland, Professor of (Applied Research) Resilient Democracy at Saxion University of Applied Sciences

Watch here: https://youtu.be/MIeo9MZwrB0

Hidden Trade Routes: Illicit Networks and Alternative Markets in Sanctions
2025-04-14 15:00 - 16:00 | Zoom Event
Illicit Financial Flows have long been recognized for their destabilizing impact on economies, yet their role in enabling corruption and institutional capture, related to sanctions evasion and sustaining military conflicts has received less mainstream attention in comparison to issues like tax evasion or organized crime. How state capture and corrupt practices within governments and institutions contribute to the proliferation of illicit trade networks? How vulnerable are countries with historical ties to the Kremlin to becoming key hubs for illicit trade in dual-use goods, facilitating sanctions evasion and fuelling war efforts? Can corruption and related illicit trade be considered primary tools for circumventing sanctions and undermining multilateral efforts for peace and security? What could the donor community do to address these issues at the current geopolitical cross-roads?

SPEAKERS
Paul M. Heywood, Programme Director at GI ACE and Sir Francis Hill Chair of Politics, University of Nottingham
Tihomira Kostova, Senior Research Analyst, Center for the Study of Democracy
Nedim Hogic, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Oslo

Watch here: https://youtu.be/2qiOHZvoWBA

Inside the Congo Hold-Up: How a Captured Bank Enabled Grand Corruption
2025-07-10 16:00 - 17:00 | Zoom Event
Financial institutions serve as the circulatory system of modern economies but, when corrupted, also as the lifeline of illicit wealth. By collating insights from dozens of journalistic reports in the Congo Hold-Up investigation, a new briefing by the Anti-Corruption Data Collective (ACDC) and the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF) examines how BGFIBank in the Democratic Republic of Congowas transformed into an engine of grand corruption. Far from being a rogue operation in isolation, BGFIBank DRC represents a striking case study in how political control over financial institutions not only allows the theft of state resources, but also facilitates the laundering of the proceeds of corruption and crime.

SPEAKERS
Elizabeth David-Barrett, Deputy Director (Research) at GI ACE and Director at CSC, University of Sussex
David Szakonyi, Co-founder of the Anti-Corruption Data Collective (ACDC) and Associate Professor of Political Science at George Washington University
Anrike Visser, Independent policy advisor, investigator and founder of Global Ground Consulting

Watch here: https://youtu.be/-OICkBtTjf8

Scoping Corruption in Voluntary Carbon Markets
2025-09-18 12:30 - 13:30 | Zoom Event
This seminar presents emerging insights from RUSI’s Interrogating Corruption Risk in Voluntary Carbon Markets project. Drawing on early evidence and case studies, the discussion explores how market volatility, weak oversight, and governance gaps create vulnerabilities to fraud and corruption in voluntary carbon markets. The session will highlight key risks, evidence gaps, and potential policy and industry responses to strengthen integrity and restore confidence in these markets.

SPEAKERS
Jennifer Scotland, Research Analystm Organised Crime and Policing, RUSI.
Dan Marks, Energy Security Programme, RUSI.
Pablo Fernandez, Chief Executive Officer, EcoSecurities (Discussant).
Elizabeth David-Barrett, Programme Director at GI ACE and Director at CSC, University of Sussex (Chair).

Watch here: https://youtu.be/rmyQBDMzaa4

Shadow Economies: Illicit Financial Flows and Sanctions Evasion in the Balkans and Black Sea
2025-10-30 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom Event
This webinar will launch the new research paper Shadow Economies: The Rise of Illicit Networks and Alternative Markets in Sanctions Circumvention. The study examines how illicit financial flows linked to sanctions evasion have surged across the Western Balkans and Black Sea region, doubling to more than $31 billion in 2023.
It shows that European companies continue to sell sanctioned dual-use goods to Russia, often by falsifying documentation, using shell companies or rebranded firms, and relying on entrenched state-capture networks to sustain Russia’s access to dual-use technologies and critical supplies. The discussion will focus on the paper’s findings, including the broader economic and governance implications for countries in Europe’s neighbourhood, as well as the global risks of sanctions evasion as similar patterns begin to appear in emerging markets. The session will also explore policy responses for the EU, UK, and G7, ranging from stronger export controls to early warning systems and long-term efforts to counter state capture.

SPEAKERS
Tihomira Kostova, Senior Analyst, Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD)
Elizabeth David-Barrett, Programme Director at GI ACE and Director at CSC, University of Sussex (Chair).

Watch Recording here: https://youtu.be/xa2Mo4Y3McI

Corruption in Paradise: Real Estate Money Laundering in Emerging Markets
2025-11-13 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom Event
This seminar examines real estate-linked money laundering in the Global South, focusing on Brazil, Kenya, and Indonesia, revealing how rapid urbanization, particularly in touristic destinations, has enabled different actors to exploit weak enforcement systems. The research documents severe consequences, including distorted housing markets, while demonstrating that current international AML framework for the real estate sector fails in emerging markets.
SPEAKERS
Jean-Patrick Villeneuve, Full Professor of Public Administration and Management, Università della Svizzera italiana (USI)
Fabiano Angélico, Senior Researcher, Università della Svizzera italiana (USI)
Dieter Zinnbauer, Research Fellow, Copenhagen Business School (Discussant)
Elizabeth David-Barrett, Programme Director at GI ACE and Director at CSC, University of Sussex (Chair).
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Consultants, capture, and kleptocrats: how professional service providers enable corruption
2025-12-11 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom Event
This roundtable brought together leading scholars from the GI ACE programme and beyond to examine how consultancies, lawyers and other intermediaries facilitated illicit influence across jurisdictions.
Devi Pillay examined how McKinsey & Company and its local subcontractors contributed to state capture in South Africa’s public utilities. Alex Cooley and John Heathershaw shared insights on the Kazakh government’s engagement with firms such as Tony Blair Associates and Arcanum. Corentin Cohen explored the hierarchy and complementary functions of different types of enablers. Tena Prelec addressed the evolving and contested role of lawyers in facilitating kleptocracy and grand corruption.
The discussion shed light on the systems, incentives and networks that make professional enablers central to contemporary corruption challenges.
This research is part of the Governance & Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence (GI ACE) programme which is hosted by the Centre for the Study of Corruption, University of Sussex and funded by UK International Development from the UK government. GI ACE generates actionable evidence that policymakers, practitioners and advocates can use to design and implement more effective anti-corruption initiatives. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the UK Government’s official policies.
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The promise and perils of using leaked and sensitive data to research illicit finance
2026-02-05 14:00 - 15:00 | Zoom Event
This seminar explores how leaked and sensitive datasets – often held by media organisations – can underpin research into corruption and illicit finance, drawing on GI ACE research using leaked banking data from the DRC and work mapping enabler networks.
Held in collaboration with the Illicit Finance Data Lab (ACDC & OCCRP).
SPEAKERS
David Szakonyi, Associate Professor of Political Science, The George Washington University; Co-Founder, Anti-Corruption Data Collective
Tom Mayne, Research Fellow University of Exeter
Liz David-Barrett (Chair), Director, CSC; Programme Director, GI ACE
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Sourcing data for the next generation of illicit finance research
2026-03-05 14:00 - 15:00 | Zoom Event
Researchers are faced with an abundance of data that can illuminate the shadowy worlds of illicit finance, organised crime and corruption. But gaining access to these data, narrowing down to the most promising, identifying research questions, and making them usable in academic research can be laborious and time consuming.
This online seminar, organised in collaboration with the Illicit Finance Data Lab, presents recent work to lower barriers to such data. This ranges from tackling inconsistencies in public registries of corporate, property, and trade data available unevenly around the world, to handling sensitive leaks shared with journalism organisations and archives.
Speakers

Michelle Kendler Kretsch, Research Fellow, Anti-Corruption Data Collective
Alexandra Gillies, Chief Impact Officer, Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project
Amra Dzonlic Zlatarevic, Research and Data Operations Manager, Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project
Milo Z. Trujillo, Postdoctoral Researcher, Data Scientist, Northeastern University and Distributed Denial of Secrets
Elizabeth David-Barrett (Chair), Programme Director, GI ACE

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Addressing corruption in crisis situations: towards effective crisis-responses in the Malawian health system
2026-04-16 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom Event
Eric Umar (Associate Professor and Head of Department, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences) and Dina Balabanova (Professor of Health Systems and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) present the most recent findings from their GI ACE project Addressing corruption in the crisis response of the Malawian health system.
This project addresses corruption in crisis responses – Covid, Cyclone Freddy, and cholera – in the Malawian health system.
The research team are holistically mapping the types of corruption that arise or worsen during crises to build a thorough understanding of the drivers and enablers that hamper the health systems’ emergency response. This will provide the basis upon which robust and effective anti-corruption interventions in support of emergency responses can be developed.
Speakers and chair

Eric Umar (Associate Professor and Head of Department, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences)
Dina Balabanova (Professor of Health Systems and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine)
Liz Dávid-Barrett (Director, GI ACE)

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