Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Managing Director of World Bank (second left) with panelists at the discussion on the Global Forum on Fighting Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity at the Doha Sheraton yesterday.SHAIVAL DALAL

By MOBIN PANDIT

DOHA: Speakers at a global conference on fighting corruption here yesterday called for brushing aside the North-South issue which has frustrated international cooperation to combat the socio-economic evil in the past.

Developing countries (South) have long been accusing advanced societies (North) of sitting pretty over complaints of mightier lots from their midst transferring stolen assets worth billions of dollars over the years.

There was a heated exchange briefly at a panel discussion when a US prosecutor stood up during the question-answer session and said he would like participants to point out if any US company was involved in bribing foreign officials for undue favors.

A panelist retorted back by saying that developing countries had informed of a number of cases of corruption (read: transfer of stolen assets) to their developed counterparts but nothing had been forthcoming.

The US prosecutor went on a defensive and said: “We are not saying we are perfect, but at such conferences we keep our ears open.”

The panel discussion was devoted to ‘Global Financial Crisis and Corruption’ at the ‘Global Forum on Fighting Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity’.

The two-day event concluded yesterday as a sequel to a more important event beginning at the same venue (Doha Sheraton) today entitled ‘Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption’. Countries at this event hope to make an effective international treaty on fighting corruption (UN Convention on Fighting Corruption).

Yesterday’s panel discussion was moderated by the Managing Director of World Bank (WB), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and panelists included Jermyn Brooks, from Transparency International, Richard Weber, Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section, US Department of Justice, Lise Stensrud, from Norway, and Jonathan Winer, from APCO Worldwide, among others.

Okonjo-Iweala told the participants that the WB has started a ‘Stolen Assets Recovery Initiative’ to help developing countries get back their stolen wealth.

She and several speakers said that the world financial crisis provided a godsend opportunity to intensify the fight against corruption through collective efforts.

There is a realisation at G-20 and G-77 levels that collective action is needed to fight this evil, she said.

Brooks said that banks were moving huge amounts of corrupt money through their systems and the WB and International Monetary Fund (IMF) occasionally came out with guesstimates.

The WB official later intervened saying that a more effective way to combat corruption was to pass on the burden of proof on asset owners. She urged bankers and private sector players not to keep mum and blow the whistle on shady deals if they were in the know.