Published by Transparency International, the corruption perceptions index shows the wide spectrum of government corruption in Asia, with Singapore and Australia both posting excellent results and landing in the top ten, Hong Kong also scoring very well (and actually above its pre-handover score), Thailand highlighted as among the most improved countries of the year, and China, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Myanmar receiving abysmal scores. Asia also has the distinction of holding the last place finish, which goes to Bangladesh.
What does this have to do with banking? A banking system is all about trust and security, especially in the government and money supply. A corrupt government will inevitably go after the interests of bank shareholders and /or depositors because, as Willie Sutton noted, "that's where the money is."
Download the full 2004 survey here.
Country | Rank | Score* |
Singapore | 5 | 9.3 |
Australia | 9 | 8.8 |
Hong Kong | 16 | 8.0 |
Japan | 24 | 6.9 |
Taiwan | 35 | 5.6 |
Malaysia | 39 | 5.0 |
Korea | 47 | 4.5 |
Thailand | 64 | 3.6 |
Sri Lanka | 67 | 3.5 |
China | 71 | 3.4 |
Mongolia | 85 | 3.0 |
India | 90 | 2.8 |
Nepal | 90 | 2.8 |
Russia | 90 | 2.8 |
Philippines | 102 | 2.6 |
Vietnam | 102 | 2.6 |
Pakistan | 129 | 2.1 |
Indonesia | 133 | 2.0 |
Myanmar | 142 | 1.7 |
Bangladesh | 145 | 1.5 |
* (0-10, 10 is the least corrupt) |