OpenCorporates Podcasts

Partners in Crime: Behind the investigation into the abuse of LLPs by Transparency International UK

With countries like the UK and the US having anti-bribery laws and generally strong governance standards – some think that corruption is a problem for ‘somewhere else’.

That’s also because corruption is hidden behind a veil of corporate opacity, often through legal entities acting as getaway vehicles instead of legitimate businesses. 

But just how widespread is the abuse of companies as an enabler for corruption? 

In this episode, we hear from Transparency International UK about the scale of abuse of Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) in the UK, as evidenced in their recent Partners in Crime report, and discuss how data and legislation work together to help fight corruption.

Topics

• Scale of the problem – including how the report found that more than 1 in 10 LLPs ever incorporated show money laundering red flags
  
  
• How the investigation was conducted
  
  
• Role that company data, including OpenCorporates’ data, plays in exposing corruption
  
  
• What’s needed in order to put a stop to the abuse of companies in the UK?
  
  
• Will the Economic Crime & Transparency Bill currently going through the UK Parliament live up to expectations and help prevent the abuse of companies?

Speakers

• Steve Goodrich, Head of Research & Investigations, Transparency International UK 
  
  
• Rebecca Lee, Chief Impact Officer, OpenCorporates

Former FBI International Corruption Unit Head on how data can connect the dots in cross-border financial crime investigations

Corporate opacity has long stood in the way of those investigating financial crime. Not only do shell companies and other opaque corporate structures hold us all back, but critical official data about companies is often siloed and difficult to use at scale.

In this episode, we’re joined by a decorated investigator and one of the world’s leading authorities on anti-corruption to discuss how foundational data about companies helps connect the dots across borders to uncover red flags for further investigation.

Speakers

• George “Ren” McEachern, Founder & President, TrustStorm and former FBI Acting Unit Chief, International Corruption Unit
• Shanti Salas, Vice President, OpenCorporates

Topics

• What an effective cross-border investigation looks like in today’s technology-driven world
• How corporate opacity holds investigators back
• Role that data, especially data about companies, plays in helping investigators join the dots across borders
• What Ren thinks needs to change about the landscape for official company data to make it more amenable to investigators 
• Ren’s advice for those looking to leverage data to support investigations for the first time

Do you know who you’re in business with?

Customers, boards, the general public and other stakeholders increasingly expect that companies act ethically. But whilst you can protect and uphold your own standards, what about who you do business with? How much do you really know about them and their values and conduct? The complexity of corporate structures and the explosion of information available makes this a constant challenge.

In this episode, Shaun O’Mahony, Co-founder at Xapien, joins us to discuss how innovative firms are deploying technology and data to overcome this challenge.

Topics

• Why it’s more important than ever for an organisation to know who it’s doing business with
• Effects of the proliferation of publicly available information on due diligence 
• Role company data plays in helping paint a picture about a would-be customer or third party
• How innovative, AI-based technologies, when combined with quality data, revolutionise the compliance professional’s ability to find red flags 
• How to change the company data landscape to make it more conducive to tech-powered due diligence work

Speakers

• Shaun O’Mahony, Co-founder at Xapien
• Shanti Salas, VP North America, OpenCorporates

Knowledge graphs: Creating insights about companies

Knowledge graphs are increasingly being used to help their users better understand the companies they’re dealing with. 

In this episode, we discuss the role of data in powering knowledge graphs and how they can reveal insights about companies.

Topics

• Business challenges knowledge graphs can help solve
• How knowledge graphs help create insights about companies
• Key ingredients needed for a knowledge graph to be effective – including quality data
• Practical example: How Google’s Enterprise Knowledge Graph adds intelligence to users’ document processing

Speakers

• Lewis Liu, Product Manager, Google Cloud AI
• Shanti Salas, Vice President, OpenCorporates (Moderator)

Pandora Papers: A wake up call?

The Pandora Papers came and went. Now what?

Following the publication of the Pandora Papers in early October 2021, this podcast analyses the legacy of the investigation so far, and what the anti-financial crime community should be doing in response.

The investigation can and should act as a wake up call – driving forward the kind of meaningful change that has progressed through the legislative agenda in fits and starts as of late.

Topics

• Significance of the Pandora Papers
• Is any of this really ‘new’ for risk & compliance professionals?
• Concrete steps to promote the kind of corporate transparency needed to deter the abuse of corporate vehicles as has been seen in the Pandora Papers
• Legislative measures on the table that could promote greater corporate transparency
• Is it enough for firms to simply ‘do more due diligence’ as is often called for after high-profile investigations are published?

Guest speakers

• Shanti Salas, Vice President, OpenCorporates (Moderator)
• Rebecca Lee, Chief Impact Officer, OpenCorporates
• Laeti Hoffmann, Market Specialist, Due Diligence, Dow Jones Risk & Compliance

Pandora Papers: How open company data enabled the investigation

The revelations of the Pandora Papers, one of the biggest journalism investigations, can’t have escaped your attention recently. 

Whilst the findings of the investigation are well-documented, this podcast covers the enabling role open company data plays in investigative reporting.

Two exciting guest speakers who were at the core of the International Consortium of Investigative Reporters’ (ICIJ) Pandora Papers investigation join Rebecca Lee, our Chief Impact Officer, to discuss the role of open company data, including data from OpenCorporates, in their work.

Topics:

• How company data, including data from OpenCorporates, helped support ICIJ’s Pandora Papers investigation
  
  
• Challenges of accessing the company data needed for investigative reporting from official registries
  
  
• Global state of access to company data, and changes our guest speakers would like to see to aid public benefit causes such as investigative reporting
  
  
• Advice from our guest speakers for any journalists who want to start using company data in their investigations

Guest speakers:

• Emilia Díaz-Struck, Research Editor, ICIJ
  
  
• Delphine Reuter, Data Journalist & Researcher, ICIJ

Transparent company data & investigations

Shanti Salas, Vice President at OpenCorporates speaks to Todd Conklin, Chief Data Officer and Chief Information Officer at the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence about the role of transparent company data in investigations.