In this morning’s first session of short, sharp talks from the TED Fellows, an impressive lineup of world-changers share their ideas for seeing the world in new ways — like an AI that might help us see cancer symptoms, or a fresh view on how refugees really live, or a long-term study that’s detecting a […]
A trail of $2 billion in offshore deals that traces to Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. The Prime Minister of Iceland, accused of hiding millions of dollars in investments. The Prime Minister of Pakistan’s family, linked to six luxury real estate deals in London. The Panama Papers, revealed yesterday, represent the largest data leak in history […]
In March, anti-corruption activist Charmian Gooch stood on the TED stage in Vancouver to make a bold TED Prize wish: to shed light on anonymous shell companies that shield corrupt activities. “My years as a field investigator and campaigner at Global Witness have shown me how the corrupt deals that destroy the environment and rip off […]
Earlier this month, the Queen announced legislation to clamp down on corporate secrecy in her speech at the opening of Parliament in the United Kingdom. This may be news to the rest of the world, but it was a hard-won victory for the campaigners at Global Witness, an international non-governmental organization known for hard-hitting field investigations […]
By Natasha Scripture Anti-corruption activist Charmian Gooch stood up on stage at TED2014 tonight and revealed her TED Prize wish: to get rid of anonymous companies once and for all by making who owns and controls them public knowledge. As head of Global Witness, a UK-based non-profit that has been campaigning for transparency for the […]
“TED Prize winners are heroes,” says longtime TEDster Jeff Skoll, as he introduces this year’s TED Prize winner. “They often go on to exceed even their own most audacious goals.” Watch Charmian Gooch’s TED Talk >> This year, by sheer coincidence, the Skoll Foundation and TED chose to honor the same person with their annual awards—Charmian […]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1O97HZev7A&w=586&h=330] Transparency isn’t just a nice-to-do for businesses. It’s essential, says Charmian Gooch, the anti-corruption crusader who accepted the TED Prize tonight. On the TED2014 stage, Gooch revealed her wish for the world. “My wish is for us to know who owns and controls companies, so that they can no longer be used anonymously against […]
At TED2014, Charmian Gooch made the TED Prize wish to launch a new era of openness in business and end the phenomenon of anonymous companies. “Anonymous companies are making it difficult, and sometimes impossible, to find the actual human beings responsible for really bad crimes,” she said. So how do anonymous companies work? This infographic explains the […]
“It’s easy to think that corruption happens somewhere over there, carried out by a bunch of greedy despots,” says anti-corruption activist Charmian Gooch in her blistering talk from TEDGlobal 2013. “The reality is that the engine of corruption exists far beyond the shores of countries like Equatorial Guinea or Nigeria or Turkmenistan. This engine is driven […]
Larry Lessig is about to complete a 185-mile walk across the state of New Hampshire. He began this journey on January 11 and has walked despite rain, sleet, snow, ice and freezing cold, as the temperature in this state ranges anywhere from the lower thirties to the negative teens in the month of January. Lessig […]
Charmian Gooch, co-founder of anti-corruption NGO Global Witness, tracks money to expose deep-rooted global corruption. In yesterday’s talk, Gooch demonstrates that dirty money goes all the way to the top, and more sinister is that these cases of corruption are well-known to leaders and corporate elites. Nobody — banks, big oil, government leaders — is […]
When we talk about corruption, certain types of individuals come to mind, says Charmian Gooch, co-founder of watchdog NGO Global Witness. She gives some familiar examples of the type. There’s the (former) Soviet megalomaniac — such as Saparmurat Niyazov, the all-powerful leader of Turkmenistan, whose indulgences included erecting a 40-foot-high gold-plated statue of himself that […]
Anas Aremeyaw Anas is known for, as he calls it, the “naming, shaming and jailing” of criminals all over Ghana – yet few people would be able to pick him out of a crowd. The undercover journalist, who gave today’s talk, has brought smugglers, mob bosses and pimps to justice with an unshakeable determination to, […]
When it comes to US politics, many are frustrated that gridlock and grandstanding so often substitute for the hard job of getting things done. Just 14% of Americans say they approve of the work that Congress is doing, according to a recent Gallup poll. (Which, as a recent TED speaker notes, is lower than the […]
Anas Aremeyaw Anas can’t show you his face, but his name carries enough weight. Famous in Ghana for his investigative journalism, Anas’ stories like “Enemies of the nation,” about corruption at customs in the Port of Tema, have blown the cover on crime all over Africa. He started 14 years ago, when he had just […]
When CL Financial — the largest financial institution in Trinidad and Tobago — collapsed in January of 2009, its bailout was far more sweeping than those offered in other countries. “In an unprecedented fit of generosity — and I use that word carefully — the government of the day made a written commitment to repay […]