Students from the University of Sussex’s MA in Corruption and Governance put their theoretical knowledge into practice when they visited Basel, Switzerland, at the end of April. 

During a five-day trip to the Swiss city, students discussed issues of anti-corruption and compliance with representatives from Swiss banks, NGOs and other financial organisations, as part of a joint seminar organised by the Faculty of Law at the University of Basel and the Sussex Centre for the Study of Corruption (SCSC) and led by Professors Mark Pieth and Dan Hough from Basel and Sussex respectively. 

High profile representatives from organisations such as Credit Suisse and Glencore talked about the challenges they face in meeting their compliance obligations, while representatives from the Baseler Institute for Governance outlined how they try to recover illegally obtained assets hidden deeply away in western bank accounts. 

Professor Hough noted that the Sussex cohort did not shy away from probing the representatives. David Ugolor, for example, was particularly keen to know what western banks were doing to stop Nigerian politicians ferreting away illegally obtained funds, while Jon Benton pressed them on the impact of compliance legislation. 

Students were also required to present their own research to the group. Pamela Wadi outlined how a more skilful use of modern technology would assist law enforcement authorities in tracing incidents of corruption, whilst Jean Jesudason mapped out some interesting ideas on the challenge of making collection action attempts to stop corruption work. Ben Halton unpacked some of the opportunities that open data potentially offered and Asti Lestari Metami analysed the role that civil society could potentially play in putting a check on corruption in Indonesia. 

The seminar provided an excellent opportunity for the Sussex group to put their theoretical knowledge into practice. The group also benefited from the chance to discuss issues and challenges with fellow students.

The success of the seminar will be replicated when the Sussex Centre for the Study of Corruption (SCSC) host a similar four-day event in London in the spring of 2016.