Managing Conflict of Interest - Organisation for Economic Co ...

Regulating conflict of interest:International experience with assetdeclaration and disclosureRichard E. MessickSenior Governance Specialist, Co-director, Law and Justice Thematic Group,Public Sector Governance Poverty Reduction and Economic Management,The World BankOverview of Conflict-of-Interest RegulationConflict-of-interest legislation ensures that when governmentofficials decide issues of public policy, their personal interests donot cloud their judgment—that their decisions will be based solelyon what is best for the public as a whole. Conflict-of-interest lawsachieve this objective in two ways. One way involves banning certainblatant conflicts altogether. Ministers and civil servants will thusbe prohibited from awarding government contracts to firms theyown or from hiring close relatives. The second way conflict-of-interestlaw prevents personal concerns from coloring official decisionsis by requiring public servants to disclose their private interests. Notall conflicts are immediately obvious. Instead of owning a potentialgovernment contractor outright, a minister might own stock in it.Requiring ministers to disclose their shareholdings and other assetswill reveal these kinds of less obvious conflicts.While a conflict-of-interest bill must be tailored to local conditions,certain principles are found in all of them. Any conflict of interestlaw should:••••distinguish private from public interest;provide mechanisms for the disclosure of private interests;identify which private interests are incompatible with decisionmaking in the public interest;establish procedures for excluding these interests from thedecision-making process; andcreate processes for resolving accusations of conflict ofinterest.•ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia and the Pacific