For leaders who campaigned on pledges to curtail corruption — like those in Pakistan, the Czech Republic and Kenya, for example — to be included in the Pandora report is acutely embarrassing.
“In any country, there is a tipping point, at which point people are angry and upset,” said Lakshmi Kumar, policy director at Global Financial Integrity, a Washington-based research group on illicit financial flows and other corruption. “We are already there, in a lot of these countries.”
What are the prospects for ending such practices?
Ms. Kumar and others said they hoped the Pandora report would accelerate action to strengthen international financial regulations, curb tax avoidance and severely restrict the ways that the wealthy can hide assets. One of her main takeaways from the report, she said, was the complicity of bankers in helping their most affluent clients.
“When you are that rich, and you are looking for a creative way to hide money, you cannot do it alone,” she said. “You need a network of professionals to help you. These people are often people who are meant to safeguard the financial system.”