High Tide: From An Anti-Graft Chief Nabbed To Pieth Sounds Off On FIFA.

By Samuel Rubenfeld

A roundup of corruption-related news from Dow Jones and other sources. You can also receive a newsletter version of Corruption Currents here.

Bribery:

Kosovo’s anti-corruption chief was arrested for allegedly demanding bribes in exchange for lifting charges against a suspect in a case. He turned himself in and didn’t appear to be contacted for comment. More here. (OCCRP, Sofia News Agency)

It’s more important to look at what FIFA President Sepp Blatter didn’t say at his press conference last week. To that end, Mark Pieth, head of FIFA’s reform committee, said top soccer officials aren’t comfortable with changes that would affect them directly. So Pieth said he watered down his reform proposals calling prior investigations of past misconduct "lenient or ridiculous." More here. (Keir Radnedge, Bloomberg, Daily Telegraph, BBC, World Football Insider)

The FCPA Blog notes Ousama Naaman might serve out his time in Canada and lists companies it believes are under investigation for possible FCPA violations. The FCPAProfessor reviews the previous quarter in FCPA matters. Tom Fox reflects on remarks at the Dow Jones Global Compliance Symposium about corporate support for deferred- and non-prosecution agreements. Mike Volkov updates his readers on the FCPA reform effort. Thebriberyact.com says be careful what you wish for.

India’s government rejects assertions from investigative agencies that current law sufficiently deals with foreign bribery. (Hindustan Times)

Two client alerts analyze the U.K. Financial Services Authority’s review of investment banks. (Norton Rose, Fried Frank)

More coverage of the Hong Kong property tycoons arrested on suspicion of bribery professing their innocence is available here and here. The arrests put the region’s anti-graft agency in the spotlight, and highlight an apparent family feud. (AP, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Rendezvous)

Prosecutors in Indonesia seek seven years in prison for a high-profile bribery suspect. (Jakarta Post)

More coverage of the OECD analysis of the U.K. anti-bribery program is here. (Out-Law)

The crisis in Greece is causing authorities to crack down on a long-held tradition of giving gifts to doctors for bringing people back to health. (Bloomberg)

Money Laundering:

Saudi Arabia’s cabinet approved a new law combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism. More here and here. (Arab News, Bloomberg, Trade Arabia)

Nigeria’s federal high court in Lagos dismissed a N5 billion money-laundering case against the former managing director of Intercontinental Bank, now called Access Bank. More here and here. (Daily Trust, The Nation Nigeria, AP)

Sanctions:

A coup in Mali led West African nations to impose sanctions on the country, closing their borders with it and freezing Mali’s access to bank accounts. The African Union as a whole took similar measures later. More here and here. (Wall Street Journal, Reuters, BBC, AAP)

Japanese refiners have received an exemption clause from Iran in case oil deliveries are disrupted due to international sanctions. A Greek refiner stopped buying Iranian crude ahead of a European Union embargo. (Dow Jones Newswires, Reuters)

South Africa said it will respond in May to U.S. sanctions punishing anyone doing business with the Iranian central bank. (Dow Jones Newswires)

An ex-president of Iran said the country should form an alliance with rival Saudi Arabia to head off Western sanctions. (AFP)

The victory by dissident leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar’s by-elections is causing a rethink by the international community on whether to continue sanctions against the country. (Wall Street Journal)

Whistleblowers:

An informant in the Washington D.C. taxi corruption scandal tells his story. (Washington Post)

Snitches account for 90% of complaints of wrongdoing brought against New York City employees, records reveal. (NY Daily News)

General Anti-Corruption:

The World Bank’s Integrity Vice Presidency said corruption is rampant in Indian highway projects it is funding and that it is seeking a probe into the situation. (Indian Express)

A judge declined to unfreeze the assets of those charged in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum scandal. One of those indicted is a fugitive in Brazil. (LA Times, LA Times)

India’s not a risky place for foreigners to do business, a senior Indian official insisted, pushing back on a report earlier this week saying otherwise. (Wall Street Journal)

Local coverage of the State Integrity Index continues. (Wyoming Tribune)

How do you pass the corruption car test? (Transparency International)

The Council of Foreign Relations produced a policy memo on salvaging governance and anti-corruption reform in Afghanistan.

An anti-corruption crusader won a landslide victory in a mayoral election in Yaroslavl, a major Russian city east of Moscow. (AP)

http://blogs.wsj.com/corruption-currents/2012/04/03/high-tide-from-an-anti-graft-chief-nabbed-to-pieth-sounds-off-on-fifa/