Joining the Dots with PEPs
"Joining the Dots with PEPs" makes available to the public information on public officials’ Financial Declarations, government procurement and contracting, and contracts and tenders of companies in the extractive sector, with the aim of identifying possible conflicts of interest, corruption or misuse of public office.
To this end, we have developed a platform that compiles, verifies and cross-checks information on politically exposed persons (PEPs) with public data from Financial Declarations, transactions registered on the official Colombia Compra Eficiente website and the list of operating companies in the mining and hydrocarbons industry of EITI Colombia.
The site is aimed at both the specialized public and the general public, in order to provide public information in an agile and attractive way.
EITI, Directorio Legislativo and IMF are teaming up to work on this project aimed to identify and mitigate corruption risks by ‘joining the dots’ with company owners and politically exposed persons. The project is part of the IMF Anti-Corruption Challenge.
Background
Hidden beneficial ownership of corporations and lack of oversight of assets held by politically exposed persons are factors that exacerbates the risks of corruption and tax evasion. Many governments have recognized the problem and expressed the need for better beneficial ownership information and financial disclosure systems.
What are Financial Declarations?
A Financial Declaration is the form in which public officials inform the authorities and the citizenry of their assets, income, business activities, interests, etc.
Problem statement
Lack of simple, robust and practical tools to put together publicly accessible information and cross-check/verify data on beneficial ownership and financial disclosure of public officials.
What are PEPs?
Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) are individuals who carry out important public functions, such as presidents, ministers, legislators and judges, and in this sense, they carry a high risk of involvement in corrupt activities, money laundering and actions that undermine transparency and accountability.
How did Joining The Dots come about?
The project was selected as one of the 4 winning initiatives of the IMF Anti-Corruption Challenge 2019. This challenge was organized by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with the objective of supporting initiatives with innovative approaches that encourage citizen participation and transparency in decision-making processes, thus improving governance and addressing corrupt practices in the public sector.
The organizations carrying out this project are:
About IMF
International Monetary Fund
The IMF is an organization of 189 countries that works to foster global monetary cooperation, ensure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce world poverty. Its main purpose is to ensure the stability of the international monetary system.
IMF Anti-Corruption Challenge
Aims to support the development of new and innovative approaches on the following theme: how might we create behavioral change and increased transparency to enable good governance and tackle corruption in the public sector?