Governance & Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence (GI ACE)

This month in GI ACE: new insights on corruption in carbon markets, state capture and legal accountability. Watch, read and listen to the latest research from across the GI ACE network.

🔗Full October newsletter: bit.ly/GIACENewsletter6

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How do consulting giants enable state capture?

@lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social talks to @devipillay.co.za on McKinsey’s role in South Africa, drawing on the Zondo Commission.
🔗Listen: bit.ly/KBspotify138
🔗Paper: lnkd.in/eczS5NAM

#StateCapture #SouthAfrica #AntiCorruption

@devipillay.co.za's paper shows that consulting firms weren't passive participants, they were active facilitators of state capture.
This raises a wider question: how can governments ensure consultants are accountable when their work undermines public institutions?
🔗 Read: bit.ly/consultants-...

#Statecapture in South Africa wasn’t just politicians & the Guptas. Firms like McKinsey, Regiments & Trillian at Transnet & Eskom enabled inflated contracts & mismanagement.

#GIACE research by @devipillay.co.za shows how unchecked outsourcing weakens state capacity.

Read: bit.ly/consultants-...

The Origin of the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture in South Africa - Governance & Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence

In part one of this blog series, @devipillay.co.za looked at how South Africa came to establish the Zondo Commission into State Capture.

Read the first blog here: bit.ly/giaceblog4

The Zondo Commission and its investigations into state capture in South Africa - Governance & Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence

In part two of this three part series, #GIACE research fellow @devipillay.co.za explores the nature and scope of the Commission’s work — from its ambitious mandate, to how it defined “state capture,” to the challenges it faced in delivering justice.

Read the full blog here: bit.ly/DeviZondoBlog2

Join us today as we kickoff our first #GIACESeminar with Dan Marks & @jenniferscotland.bsky.social from @rusi.bsky.social and reflections from Pablo Fernandez (EcoSecurities).

📖 Scoping Corruption in Voluntary Carbon Markets
🕰️ 12:30–1:30 PM (UK time)
🔗 bit.ly/GIACESeminar1

Sussex Spark 2025: Is the UK Politically Corrupt?

Join us at Brighton Dome on 18 Sept for a public debate on the Nolan Principles and standards in public life.
Panel: @lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social,Becky Dobson Phillips, @suehawley.bsky.social, @drhannahwhite.bsky.social.

🎟️ Tickets: t.co/eQ90lgoToS

Join us on 18 September as we kickoff our first #GIACESeminar with Dan Marks & @jenniferscotland.bsky.social from @rusi.bsky.social, and reflections from Pablo Fernandez (EcoSecurities).

📖 Scoping Corruption in Voluntary Carbon Markets
🕰️ 12:30–1:30 PM (UK time)
🔗 bit.ly/GIACESeminar1

💡At the GI-ACE Mid-Year Conference 2025 in London, @giace.bsky.social , CSD shared new findings on state capture.

Tihomira Kostova & Todor Galev showed how third-country trade routes enable the re-export of EU dual-use goods to Russia — a key test for sanctions enforcement.

#StateCapture #GIACE

Interrogating corruption risk in the climate transition: Trading in voluntary carbon markets - Governance & Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence

Read more on their GI ACE project here: bit.ly/RUSIProject
Read their recently published paper: lnkd.in/gjaKdFtm
Read their latest blog: bit.ly/RUSIBlog1

Join us on 18 September as we kickoff our first #GIACESeminar with Dan Marks & @jenniferscotland.bsky.social from @rusi.bsky.social, and reflections from Pablo Fernandez (EcoSecurities).

📖 Scoping Corruption in Voluntary Carbon Markets
🕰️ 12:30–1:30 PM (UK time)
🔗 bit.ly/GIACESeminar1

#GIACE hosted our Mid-Year Conference (8–9 Sept) with researchers, Fellows, FCDO & CSO partners.
Day 1 featured multiple panels on research themes, ending with a roundtable on the Changing Global Order.
Day 2 focused on impact - turning research into real-world solutions and more.

bit.ly/giaceconf

@lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social co-chaired a panel on state capture at the @ecpr.bsky.social annual meeting in Thessaloniki.

Our takeaway: Tackling capture means understanding not just corruption itself, but the mechanisms & motivations that make states vulnerable.

Recap blog> bit.ly/ecprconferen...

Are ‘professional enablers’ providing access to justice? - Governance & Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence

New #GIACE blog by @csc-barrington.bsky.social asks: are lawyers upholding justice - or enabling kleptocrats?

Recent research shows the long-standing “access to justice” defence is being challenged by ethicists, political scientists, and even lawyers themselves.

Read: bit.ly/RBEnablersblog

🚨 Launch Webinar | Hidden Trade Routes: Illicit Financial Flows and Sanctions Evasion in the Balkans & Black Sea

📅 15 Sept 2025 | 🕑 12:00 PM UK | 📍 Online (Zoom)
🔗 Register: bit.ly/CSD_WPLaunch...

#IllicitFinance #SanctionsEvasion #GIACE @csdbuildbridges.bsky.social

Building resilience to state capture - Governance & Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence

The session sparked a lively debate, with strong interest from the audience on the global threats posed by state capture and the pathways to building resilience.

Learn more about the GI ACE project on Building Resilience to State Capture here: bit.ly/giaceproject...

@tshipley1.bsky.social presented the paper, "More Candid and Yet Still Constrained: The IMF’s Revised Approach to Tackling Corruption" by @lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social and himself representing University of Sussex and GI ACE

Explore panel details and all papers here: ecpr.eu/Events/Event...

#GIACE is pleased to be part of the #ecprgc25, convening a panel on “State Capture: New Threats and Responses.”

Chaired by @lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social, the session brought together cutting-edge research on how corruption & institutional decline enable state capture across different contexts.

Read more on the project here: lnkd.in/deWPuThm
Based on the policy report Inside the Congo Hold-Up by ACDC & Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF): lnkd.in/gWE5TjEu

#IllicitFinance #AntiCorruption #MoneyLaundering #Banking
Cover Image Credit: @pplaaf.bsky.social

High time to curb bank capture  - Governance & Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence

Key takeaways from the #ACDC blog:
1. Five techniques were used to move and disguise illicit flows.
2. Bank capture weakens oversight and regulation.
3. Global banks face risks when correspondent banking is abused.
4. Stronger compliance, whistleblower protections & enhanced due diligence are vital.

High time to curb bank capture  - Governance & Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence

A new #GIACE blog by Michael Hornsby (@acdatacollective.bsky.social) explores how #BGFIBank DRC enabled embezzlement, disguised bribes, and laundered funds for the Kabila regime — drawing on revelations from the Congo Hold-Up investigation.

Read here: bit.ly/ACDCBlog2

(2/2) Discover more about the project here: giace.org/projects/ill...

(1/2) Sanctions don’t always stop the flow – they change its route.
@csdbuildbridges.bsky.social's research reveals how legal loopholes and weak enforcement are allowing sensitive EU dual-use goods to reach Russia through third-country re-export hubs.

Read the full blog here: bit.ly/CSDBlog

From Loopholes to Launchpads: How IFFs Enable Strategic Adversaries - Governance & Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence

Study finds dual-use goods are being rerouted via Armenia, Kazakhstan & Kyrgyzstan to dodge sanctions—Armenia’s exports of some tech to Russia jumped 28,002% in a year.

Takeaway: EU & UK must tighten IFF risk monitoring to close illegal & “legal” loopholes.
🔗 bit.ly/CSDBlog

From Loopholes to Launchpads: How IFFs Enable Strategic Adversaries - Governance & Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence

New GI ACE Blog: From Loopholes to Launchpads: How IFFs Enable Strategic Adversaries by Tihomira Kostova, Martin Vladimirov and Ruslan Stefanov - @csdbuildbridges.bsky.social

Read here: bit.ly/CSDBlog

As Bain leaves South Africa, what have we learned about consultancies and corruption? - Governance & Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence

New blog by @devipillay.co.za: As Bain leaves South Africa, what have we learned about consultancies & corruption?
Read: bit.ly/DeviBainblog

📅 On 23 September 2025, we’ll publish our new paper: Consulting firms, corruption & state capture: A case study from South Africa (Follow to get it first!)

New blog by Robert Barrington explores the risks of applying anti-terror laws to protest groups & what it could mean for civil society’s role in anti-corruption. Reflects on UK & global trends.
🔗 Read more: bit.ly/3UjVK04
#Governance #CivilSociety #RuleOfLaw

We’re excited to welcome @lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social as the new Programme Director of GI ACE!

We’re thrilled to have her leading the next phase of GI ACE’s work to advance integrity and evidence-based anti-corruption strategies.

Read more about Liz’s background: giace.org/about/

The July GI ACE newsletter is here!

✅ Project spotlight: Corruption risks in voluntary carbon markets
✅ Congo Hold-Up seminar recap
✅ Meet the GI ACE Fellows
✅ Blogs & podcasts on dual-use goods, democracy & corruption

📖 Read: bit.ly/giacenewslet...
📬 Subscribe: bit.ly/giacesubscribe