The PR business in the UK has grown significantly over the last several decades, becoming an industry generating billions annually. But what are the dangers and dilemmas that face PR firms and communication agencies when their clients are from kleptocratic jurisdictions?

PR can be used constructively, encompassing, in the words of the Chartered Institute for Public Relations, the “planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics”. However, its very nature – stressing the positive over the negative – can have damaging effects if utilised in the wrong way on behalf of disreputable clients. Adding to the complexity, the PR industry is not currently regulated, meaning that anyone can set themselves up as a PR agent with no qualifications or expertise.

Concerns regarding the potential misuse of PR strategies on behalf of kleptocrats, and the societal damage it can cause, are explored in a new research paper ‘PR & Communication Agencies and Kleptocracy’ by Tom Mayne, Research Fellow, University of Oxford, published by the Foreign Policy Centre.

Join us to discuss the paper’s findings and examine how reputation laundering can fit within the wider toolbox of kleptocracy, including money laundering and strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs). The discussion will be chaired by Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP, with speakers:

– Tom Mayne, Research Fellow, University of Oxford and author of the new report ‘PR & Communication Agencies and Kleptocracy’

– Farzana Baduel, CEO of Curzon PR

– Franz Wild, Editor of The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

Opening remarks will be provided by Alastair McCapra, CEO of The Chartered Institute of Public Relations, a professional body for public relations practitioners in the UK. The panel discussion will be followed by a drinks reception.

This event is being co-hosted by the Foreign Policy Centre and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Anti-Corruption & Responsible Tax, in partnership with Curzon PR, The Chartered Institute of Public Relations, and The Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

Please join us for an in-person panel session in Parliament on senior executive criminal liability.

Chaired by Dame Margaret Hodge MP, speakers will include:

• Dr Roger Barker, Director of Policy and Corporate Governance at the Institute of Directors

• Dr Susan Hawley, Executive Director at Spotlight on Corruption

More tbc

The session will mark the launch of Spotlight on Corruption’s upcoming report on how the UK is performing on holding senior executives to account for economic crime.

The report covers a range of subjects, from prosecutions to disqualifications and the removal of director’s benefits. Spotlight finds that the UK’s record, ten years after the Commission on Banking Standards report, is poor and that the UK is falling behind the US. With strong research to show that better corporate governance increases growth and firm value, and that accountability is critical for financial stability and market integrity, is the UK missing a trick by not having a stronger accountability regime in place?

We hope you are able to join us. Please RSVP and for venue information please to matt.sokhi@parliament.uk

Please join us for an in-person panel session in Parliament on UK public attitudes to corporate tax conduct.

Chaired by Dame Margaret Hodge MP, speakers will include:

• James Murray MP, Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury

• Paul Monaghan, Chief Executive of Fair Tax Foundation

• Martin McEwen, Head of Tax, SSE plc - the first FTSE100 company to secure the Fair Tax Mark

• Penny Hogan, Financial Controller, Unity Trust Bank - the first UK bank to secure the Fair Tax Mark

Organised in partnership with the Fair Tax Foundation to mark Fair Tax Week, this parliamentary panel session will respond to their new report analysing almost a decade of UK attitudes to responsible tax conduct - covering everything from tax conditionality on government bailouts to trust in HMRC and corporate financial disclosure requirements. Join us to explore how trends over time indicate the strength of feeling towards how businesses, and government, should prioritise action. Panellists from Fair Tax Mark accredited businesses will discuss why they are voluntarily pioneering transparent and fair tax practices, and how responsible business and government can work in partnership to drive good tax conduct.

To RSVP and for access details, please contact APPG Communications Manager Laurie Woodiwiss, by email at laurie.woodiwiss@parliament.uk, or use the button below.

Please join us for an in-person panel session in Parliament on how the UK’s legal sector escapes effective supervision.

Chaired by Dame Margaret Hodge MP, key speakers include:

• Dr Sue Hawley – Executive Director, Spotlight on Corruption

• Susan Coughtrie - Deputy Director, Foreign Policy Centre

• Franz Wild - Editor, Bureau of Investigative Journalism

More speakers to be announced.

Organised in partnership with Spotlight on Corruption and in response to their report on the subject, this session will provide an opportunity to discuss how we can fix the supervision of the UK’s legal sector. The legal sector supervisors tasked with holding legal firms to account for breaches of the UK’s AML rules are fragmented, with enforcement action uneven and inadequate. Meanwhile, ‘lawfare’ is conducted between oligarchs in UK courts and journalists find themselves threatened by Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs). Panellists will discuss how we might begin to remove these stains on the reputation of our once world-leading legal sector.

To RSVP and for access details, please contact APPG Communications Manager Laurie Woodiwiss, by email at laurie.woodiwiss@parliament.uk, or use the button below.

Please join us for an in-person discussion in Parliament on how we can reform economic crime policing. Chaired by Dame Margaret Hodge MP, key speakers include:

• Karen Baxter – Ex-Commander, City of London Police and Senior Associate Fellow, RUSI

• Ian Dyson QPM – Ex-Commissioner, City of London Police and Distinguished Fellow, RUSI

• Helena Wood – Senior Research Fellow, RUSI

• Michael Skidmore - Senior Researcher, Police Foundation

Economic crime is the volume crime of our times and represents a third of all crime. Despite this, the policing response is fragmented and only 1% of resources are allocated to tackling this suite of crimes. In this event, held in conjunction with the Royal United Services Institute, experts in the policing of economic crime will put forward their ideas on a practical and workable way forward to protecting the public and the UK economy from this threat to our national security. The event will be followed by an informal networking session.

To RSVP and for access details, please contact APPG Communications Manager Laurie Woodiwiss, by email at laurie.woodiwiss@parliament.uk, or use the button below.

Please join us for an in-person panel discussion at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham on how we can reform economic crime policing. Chaired by Ryan Shorthouse, Director of Bright Blue and hosted jointly with Bright Blue, the APPG on Fair Business Banking, Royal United Services Institute, Spotlight on Corruption and Transparency International UK, speakers include:

• Bob Wigley - Chair, UK Finance

• Dr Susan Hawley – Executive Director, Spotlight on Corruption

• John Penrose MP, Former UK Anti-Corruption Champion

• Oliver Bullough – Author, Moneyland and Butler to the World

At the session we hope to explore such questions as whether or not Russia's belligerence in Eastern Europe can be tamed by measures to clamp down on the dirty money of oligarchs, why London in particular is a target for criminals wanting to hide their money and whether the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 does enough to tackle the UK's dirty money problem. The panel session will be held in the secure zone in Executive Room 7 of the ICC Birmingham.

Please join us for an in-person panel discussion at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool on how we can end the UK's dirty money problem. Chaired by Dame Margaret Hodge MP and hosted jointly with the APPG on Fair Business Banking, Royal United Services Institute, Spotlight on Corruption and Transparency International UK, speakers include:

• Rt Hon David Lammy MP – Shadow Foreign Secretary

• Chris Bryant MP – Chair, Committee on Standards

• Rachel Davies Teka – Advocacy Director, Transparency International UK

At the event we hope to address the role that Russian kleptocracy, dirty money and economic crime play in undermining the UK economy and our national security. The session will be held in the secure zone, Concourse 1 in the Liverpool ACC.

This will be an engaging discussion on how we can start to strengthen our defences against fraud. Chaired by Dame Margaret Hodge MP, key speakers include:

• Simon Fell MP, Member of Parliament for Barrow and Furness

• Rob Jones, Director-General, National Economic Crime Centre - National Crime Agency

• Louise Baxter MBE, Head - National Trading Standards Scams Team

• Paul Monaghan, CEO - Fair Tax Foundation

In the UK there is an epidemic of fraud. Criminals and fraudsters have taken full advantage of the internet and the COVID pandemic for financial gain. Instances of fraud have exploded to make it the most commonly experienced of all crimes in Britain. In the year ending September 2021, there were over 5.1 million incidents of fraud, with it now impacting one in 15 UK citizens a year. With fewer than 20% of frauds reported, the actual figure is likely far higher. Spotlight on Corruption estimates that fraud costs the UK economy £190 billion per year, with the private sector hit hardest, losing around £140 billion. UK banks spend over £5 billion a year on fraud and financial crime prevention.

To RSVP and for access details, please contact APPG Communications Manager Laurie Woodiwiss, by email at laurie.woodiwiss@parliament.uk, or use the button below.

Please join us for a virtual parliamentary seminar on Improving Standards in Public Life. This event be an opportunity for an open discussion between Parliamentarians and other stakeholders on how we can strengthen our democracy. This event will take place at 10.00 on 3 March.

Transparency and robust oversight lead to greater accountability and ultimately make for better democratic representation. Yet in the wake of recent controversies, never has it been more important for us to build consensus on how public figures can uphold the highest standards. There are plenty of difficult questions to unpick.  

How can we minimise the risks of undue influence that can come from MPs having second jobs? Can we better regulate the revolving door between Government, Parliament, and the private sector? Is the existing Ministerial Code up to scratch?  

These are just some of the areas we hope to explore in what should be an engaging debate with our expert panel:   

• Chris Bryant MP, Chair – House of Commons Committee on Standards

• Bronwen Maddox, Director – Institute for Government

• Lord Evans, Chair – Committee on Standards in Public Life

The event will be chaired by Nigel Mills MP and there will be a short presentation from Dame Margaret Hodge MP on an upcoming paper about the relationship between financial and political standards.

To RSVP and for access details, please contact APPG Coordinator, Alex Conneely Hughes, by email at conneelyhughesa@parliament.uk or use the button below.

UK Corruption Sanctions - Virtual Briefing

Join us to learn more about the Government's new tool for tackling corruption abroad.
When: 14.00-15.00 on 12 January 2022

Where: Virtual

Panel: Tom Tugendhat MP, Chair - Foreign Affairs Committee

and other expert speakers from civil society.

Hosted by Margaret Hodge MP

and the APPG on Anti-Corruption & Responsible Tax

For more information and access details - please get in touch with alex.conneelyhughes@parliament.uk

The APPG on Anti-Corruption & Responsible Tax is hosting a virtual briefing on the Pandora Papers. The event will take place virtually on Tuesday 2 November at 15.00. Our panel includes:    

• Gerard Ryle, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists

• Simon Bowers, Finance Uncovered

• And more from The Guardian and BBC

The Pandora Papers are a huge leak of documents that lift the lid on the secret world of offshore finance. They were published by the BBC, The Guardian, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, and other partners earlier this month. As ever, the UK and our tax havens play a central role in the stories that were unearthed, including some of the very worst tax avoidance and money laundering. 

At this event we will be discussing what the Pandora Papers tell us about how the UK property market is vulnerable to abuse by those looking to avoid tax or launder dirty money. The Pandora Papers revealed the true offshore owners of around £4 billion worth of UK property, including questionable or even corrupt individuals. By using shell companies in offshore tax havens they can secretly purchase UK property without any scrutiny.  

 The event will be a fantastic opportunity to hear directly from the investigative journalists behind these ground-breaking leaks and provide a chance for Parliamentarians to discuss how the UK should strengthen measures in place to protect our property market.   

Please get in touch with APPG Coordinator Alex Conneely Hughes (alex.conneelyhughes@parliament.uk) if you are planning to attend and we will share access details. I hope that you can join us.   

Join us to hear about the latest proposals for Companies House. These reforms have never been more necessary as money laundering and financial crime pose increasingly serious national security risks.

Companies House was once a world-leading corporate registrar, but it has now become a chink in our armour against dirty money. Wrongdoers can all too easily list false information, fake identities, and fraudulent records. The Government's latest proposals will give Companies House powers to better monitor and verify the information it houses.  

At the event Lord Callanan, Minister for Corporate Responsibility, and speakers from civil society will be discussing the new proposals.

Sign up to our mailing list or get in touch below for access details.