British Prime Minister David Cameron will push for global
action on corruption at a summit Thursday attended by the
leaders of Nigeria and Afghanistan, countries he was
caught describing as "fantastically corrupt".
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and Afghanistan's
Ashraf Ghani are attending the London summit alongside
the Colombian president, US Secretary of State John Kerry,
NGOs and the leaders of the World Bank and IMF.

Cameron has described corruption as "an enemy of
progress and the root of so many of the world's problems"
and says the summit, which comes amid public outrage
over the Panama Papers leaks, will push it to the top of
the global agenda.
But he risked embarrassment when he was caught on
camera on Tuesday telling Queen Elizabeth II that leaders
of some "fantastically corrupt countries" were attending,
citing Nigeria and Afghanistan as "possibly the most
corrupt".
Downing Street later said both Buhari and Ghani had
admitted the challenges their countries face and were
invited because of their commitment to tackling them.

- Anger over Panama leaks -
Campaigners are hoping for concrete action from the
summit in response to public anger sparked by a huge leak
of documents from a Panamanian law firm, which revealed
in detail how the rich and powerful hide their money.
Activists want governments to expose the beneficiaries of
anonymous companies used to move money without
detection, and take further action to reduce the secrecy of
offshore tax havens where they are incorporated.
There is also speculation that Cameron will announce
measures to tackle money laundering through London's
luxury property market, following his declaration last year
that there was "no place for dirty money in Britain".
A British official said the summit declaration would commit
signatories "to expose corruption wherever it is found, to
pursue and punish those who perpetrate, facilitate or are
complicit in it".
But The Times reported that a draft being circulated had
been watered down following opposition from some
countries, with one passage stating there would be "no
impunity for the corrupt" removed.

The Russian foreign ministry, which is sending deputy
foreign minister Oleg Syromolotov, has already indicated
that any final agreement may not be binding.
Robert Barrington, UK executive director of Transparency
International, said Cameron should "not give in" to
attempts to limit the summit's ambitions.
"The prime minister has created a platform for
governments that are serious about fighting corruption,
and now it is up to others to show they share the same
ambition," he said.
Cameron has been outspoken on the need to tackle
aggressive tax avoidance and evasion and global
corruption since raising the issue at the G8 in Britain in
2013.
He was embarrassed last month when his late father's
Bahamas-based investment fund was named in the
Panama leaks, although he insisted it was entirely
legitimate.

- 'Clean out your own backyard' -
The Panama leaks also shone a spotlight on the role
played by Britain's overseas tax havens, and London-based
lawyers and accountants, in promoting financial secrecy.
Britain will introduce a public register of who ultimately
benefits from British-registered companies next month, a
step towards greater transparency.
But campaigners want London to extend the measure to its
overseas territories, forcing them if necessary.
"If you're going to stake out a claim to be a leader, clean
out your own backyard," said John Christensen of the Tax
Justice Network advocacy group.
More than 300 economists, including former IMF economist
Oliver Blanchard and France's Thomas Piketty, this week
urged world leaders to end offshore financial secrecy,
saying tax havens "serve no useful economic purpose".
In an open letter to Cameron ahead of the summit, almost
100 Nigerian civil society groups also warned Britain was a
"safe haven for our corrupt individuals".
"This summit is an opportunity for the major financial
centres to finally acknowledge the role they are playing in
perpetuating corruption," they wrote.
Representatives of the Cayman Islands, a British overseas
territory, are expected to attend the summit -- but it is not
just offshore territories that are under pressure.

The United States, represented by Kerry, is also being
urged to address the lack of transparency in US states
such as Delaware and Wyoming, where anonymous
companies can be created for just a few hundred dollars.
Ahead of the summit, the Commonwealth announced plans
to develop an international standard or mark that could be
granted to firms adhering to best practice in procurement,
to help boost the fight against corruption.


www.vanguardngr.com/2016/05/fantastically-corrupt-nations-join-london-summit/

To my mind, the London conference is a conclave of corrupt countries led by Britain, which, together with it's satellite islands represents the ",warehouse " for loot from all over the world. I hope Buhari will take this opportunity to tell Cameron to "look in the mirror "..


We are also fantastically happy with the impeccable inventory keeping role of Britain in the world of sleaze.