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

Defining Conflict of Interest 391,583.226 acres located in McLennan County, Texas, and that itsestimated value is between USD1 million and USD5 million. Theform shows that in 2005 he earned less than USD1,000 in incomefrom it.Lines one through six on this page show other assets—his interestin various financial instruments, the retirement plan from whenhe was governor of Texas, and the ownership of a mineral lease.The asterisk by the entry for line eight, “GWB Rangers Corporation,”directs the reader to a note accompanying the disclosureform. That note explains that GWB Ranger Inc. is the companythrough which he once owned an interest in a baseball team. Hesold that interest and the proceeds of the sale are now held by thecompany.The US Office of Government Ethics administers the income andasset disclosure program for President Bush and other officials ofthe executive branch. Its Web site (www.usoge.gov/home) explainsthe US program in more detail and contains an instruction bookthat President Bush and others required to file were given explaininghow to fill out the form and whom to call with questions.Spread of Asset Disclosure ProgramsAs concerns about conflict of interest have grown, more andmore countries have begun requiring senior officials to submitincome and asset declarations similar to the one President Bushfiles. A recent survey of the 148 countries eligible to receive WorldBank support of one form or another found that in 104, seniorofficials must disclose their income and assets in some form. Ofthese 104 countries, 71 require officials to declare assets to an anticorruptionbody or other government entity without disclosing thedeclarations to the general public, while the remaining 33 requirethat, in addition to submitting the forms to some official body, theofficials should also have them published.While many countries require public officials to file disclosuredocuments, where the disclosures are made public, officially designated“fact checkers” are aided in reviewing the accuracy of thefilings by a host of nonofficial analysts. In the US, civil society watchdoggroups as well as political parties review the forms. The Republicanand Democratic parties carefully monitor the forms filed bythose from the other party as part of their “opposition research.”ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia and the Pacific