The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Bolaji Owasanoye, has been appointed a member of the United Nations High-Level Panel on International Financial Accountability, Transparency, and Integrity for Achieving the 2030 Agenda (FACTI Panel).
Dalia Grybauskaitė, former President of Lithuania and co-chairman of the panel, disclosed this during the recent inaugural meeting of the panel, which was held on a virtual platform due to COVID-19 related restrictions.
Launched on 2nd March 2020, the FACTI panel was established jointly by Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, the President of the United Nations General Assembly, and H.E. Mona Juul, the President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, against the background of escalating issues of tax evasion, tax avoidance, money laundering, and corruption, especially in an era of digital economic activity; and the pressing need for the world to put more effort into preventing financial crimes, creating level playing fields, ending financial opacity, and mobilizing resources equitably.
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The panel is tasked with making recommendations to address gaps, impediments, and vulnerabilities in international institutional and legal frameworks related to financial accountability, transparency, and integrity in the global financial system, which according to Dr. Grybauskaitė, “is overdue for changes”.
Underscoring the significance of the Panel’s task in facilitating such changes, co-chair, Dr. Ibrahim Mayaki, former Prime Minister of Niger, stated during the meeting that “In this time of global crisis instigated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of robust, reliable public resources becomes especially clear. I look forward to working closely with fellow Panel members to make recommendations toward a less porous, more equitable financial system.”
In addition, Grybauskaitė expressed the hope that the FACTI panel would provide some of the building blocks for a more just and equitable financial system after the COVID-19 crisis.
The FACTI panel consists of 17 members drawn from policymakers, academia, civil society, and the private sector.
