2023 has not been the best of years for fighting corruption – the activists at Transparency International have witnessed regression more than improvements. Long-familiar problems are also persisting in Switzerland, their critical report says.

Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) draws a sobering conclusion for 2023.

Two-thirds of all countries worldwide score below the average of 50 points on a scale of 0 to 100, according to the NGO based in Berlin. This is a clear sign the world has a serious corruption problem, the report, published on Tuesday, concludes.

Considered in bank compliance

Moreover, a large majority of the 180 countries evaluated in the report have apparently made no progress in the past ten years, or slipped back further into such practices. The global average is unchanged at just 43 points, while 23 countries fell to their lowest ever level in 2023.

The NGO index is also observed by banks. The CPI’s country rankings play a role in areas such as compliance and the assessment of basic customer risks (KYC).

Sweden Keeps Switzerland Company

As in the previous year, the model students in the rankings are Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Norway, and Singapore, with a score ranging from 90 to 83 points. Sweden has lost ground and is now tied with Switzerland (unchanged on 82 points) in sixth place.

Switzerland has made virtually no improvement in corruption-relevant areas not covered by the CPI. There were shortcomings in the fight against money laundering, corruption in the private sector, prosecution of companies and protection of whistleblowers, the organization writes in its report.

Lobbying and Nepotism Causing Stir

«Switzerland should improve the management of conflicts of interest and the regulation of lobbying at all three federal levels, and take measures against the still prevalent nepotism,» Martin Hilti, managing director of Transparency Switzerland, said in an interview with news agency «SDA».

«The biggest problem in this country is nepotism, i.e. connections and associated conflicts of interest. And lobbying is largely unregulated in Switzerland,» according to Hilti.

Toy of Powerful Entrepreneurs

Turning to Europe, the report examines developments in Hungary, Poland, the United Kingdom, Cyprus, Austria, Malta, Sweden, and Italy in greater detail. All of these countries have lost points in the rankings in recent years. The reasons for this include the weakening of the judiciary, instances of corruption, intimidation of journalists, media concentration and obstruction, and the influence of wealthy entrepreneurs.

Switzerland’s neighboring countries rank lower. For example, Germany ranks 9th on 78 points, France and Austria are 20th on 71 points, while Italy only ranks 48th on 56 points.

Major Economies Regress

Among the world’s major economies, only the U.S.’ evaluation (ranked 24, 69 points) has remained stable. China (ranked 76, 42 points), India (ranked 93, 39 points), Brazil (ranked 104, 36 points) and Russia (ranked 141, 26 points) have all fallen in the rankings.

At the bottom of the rankings, with scores ranging from 11 to 16 points, are Somalia and Venezuela, along with the war-torn countries of Syria, South Sudan, and Yemen.

Purely Western Perspective?

The Transparency International rankings are often criticized as a «Western perspective» and a form of «cultural imperialism», especially in countries heavily affected by the criticism of corruption. But it is noteworthy that alternative concepts of democracy and the rule of law often serve to secure the position of political and economic elites or enforce nationalist goals.