Video: The State of Anti-Corruption in Brazil — A View from the CCC Index
Video: The State of Anti-Corruption in Brazil — A View from the CCC Index
What's the state of Brazil's anti-corruption movement? AS/COA and Control Risks spoke with experts through the lens of the 2020 Capacity to Combat Corruption Index.
Speakers:
- Geert Aalbers, Partner, Control Risks
- Marcelo Ribeiro de Oliveira, Federal Prosecutor
- Alana Rizzo, Advisor, Albright Stonebridge Group
- Roberto Simon, Senior Director and Head of the Anti-Corruption Working Group, AS/COA (moderator)
Brazil's civil society and judicial system are feeling the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the 2020 Capacity to Combat Corruption (CCC) Index, co-developed by AS/COA and Control Risks, shows the country experienced serious setbacks since before this health crisis, leading to a 10 percent drop in its overall score since 2019. Federal Prosecutor Marcelo Riberio de Oliveira explained on an AS/COA panel a new anti-abuse of authority law signed by President Jair Bolsonaro made it more difficult for the judicial system to prosecute corruption crimes. "Even my opinions can be considered an abuse of authority," he said. Alana Rizzo talked about how Brazil's "civic space is shrinking," explaining that mechanisms to fight corruption, such as the country's Council for Financial Activities Control, are under threat, and the economic recession makes the work of free press even more difficult when 18 percent of Brazilians have no access to local news. On the corporate side, Geert Aalbers said the pandemic is a test of whether companies have the resources to invest in compliance.
