The Basel Institute has been a longtime partner of the B20 anti-corruption working groups, and during the German Presidency has actively supported the Responsible Business Conduct and Anti-corruption work of the B20 by contributing to the development of the final recommendations. These were officially handed over to German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel in May.

The B20 Recommendations were set out in a report that identified some of the most pressing global issues, which included infrastructure development as an area requiring particular focus. The lack of adequate infrastructure is recognised as one of the greatest obstacles to economic growth and social development worldwide.

The anti-corruption Recommendations that were forwarded to the G20 were as follows:

• Recommendation 18: Establishing Beneficial Ownership Transparency – G20 members should increase their efforts to implement beneficial ownership transparency so that risks related to the ultimate owner(s) can be identified.
• Recommendation 19: Recognize Compliance Efforts – G20 members should be supportive of a company’s proactive engagement by providing positive recognition of effective anti-corruption and compliance systems.
• Recommendation 20: Enhance Responsible Business Conduct in Infrastructure Projects – G20 members should increase transparency and accountability at all stages of the project cycle in order to mitigate the risk of corruption and increase efficiency.

The B20 Collective Action Hub was established in 2013 by the B20 to promote, facilitate and support anti-corruption Collective Action in partnership with the UN Global Compact. The Hub is hosted in the Basel Institute with funding support from the Siemens Integrity Initiative. See www.collective-action.com