Workshop: G20, the Day After. Immediate Civil Society Reactions to the Seoul Nov 11-12th G20 Summit

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The financial and economic crisis that broke out in fall 2008 has had disastrous consequences trapping millions in poverty worldwide, triggering a devastating rise in unemployment and placing national economies at risk. There is increasing evidence that corruption and fraud have contributed significantly in causing the financial crisis and they have been a prime cause of the serious decline in public confidence in both financial services firms and government regulators. In order to avoid another crisis substantial and sustainable reforms of the international financial architecture and system that reduce risk and increase transparency, accountability and integrity are needed.

Sustainable financial regulatory reforms should address the excessive culture of deregulation, the incentives for short-term risk-taking, the opacity of financial markets and products and the privatisation of profit concomitant to the socialisation of loss. The initial reaction of states to the crisis has been a massive injection of cash flows into the financial system in order to bail out companies. This measure may on a short term basis serve to save economies from collapsing, but it does not provide a long-term answer to the risks of the current practices and systems. To restore global confidence and reduce opportunities for corruption and fraud reforms need to include enhanced government oversight and regulation, enhanced public transparency as well as accountability of the relevant public and private actors, increased international coordination, especially in the fight against financial crime, built-in incentives for long-term action as well as improved corporate governance.

This special session will formulate an immediate civil society reaction to the outcomes of the Seoul G20 Summit and hold leaders to account for progress made on the initially ambitious reform agenda.

Coordinator: Angela McClellan

Moderator: Huguette Labelle, Chair, Transparency International

Panellists:

Frank Vogl, Individual Member, Transparency International and Adviser to the Managing Director – Economic outlook and an introduction to financial regulation

Francois Valerian, Head of TI’s Private Sector Team – The G20 action plan between international commitments and domestic implementation: progress made and room for progress

Raymond Baker, Director of Global Financial Integrity, a program of the Center for International Policy and the author of Capitalism’s Achilles Heel: Dirty Money and How to Renew the Free-Market System – Illicit Financial Flows and their impact on development

Jacques Terray, Vice-President, TI France – Regulatory measures to improve transparency of offshore financial centres and measures to facilitate asset recovery

Geo-Sung Kim, Board Member, Transparency International and Chairperson and founding Secretary-General of Transparency International Korea – Asian and developing countries’ perspective on the G20

Robert Palmer, Global Witness

Rapporteur: TBA

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