Surveys
Denmark, Singapore Among Cleanest Jurisdictions; US Slips In Corruption Index

A number of jurisdictions have slipped in the ratings. Even Denmark, which comes top, has seen one of its largest banks hit by a money laundering scandal.
Denmark has been ranked as the world’s least corrupt country,
while New Zealand, Finland, Singapore and Sweden also are judged
to be among the cleanest jurisdictions, according to Transparency
International.
TI warned that standards are falling in a number of countries and
that corruption was weakening faith in democratic government.
The organisation’s Corruption Perceptions Index draws on 13
surveys and expert assessments to measure public sector
corruption in 180 countries and territories, giving each a score
from zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
At 88, Denmark leads the group, with New Zealand on 87, Finland,
Sweden and Singapore on 85, Norway on 84, the Netherlands at 82,
Canada and Luxembourg at 81 and Germany and the UK at 80. In
almost all cases, the scores fell slightly from where they were
in 2017.
The past few years have seen a flood of money laundering scandals
in various jurisdictions. Ironically, Denmark has seen its
largest lender, Danske Bank, embroiled in a money laundering
scandal in the Baltics, while Singapore kicked out banks and
punished others linked to illicit flows coming from Malaysian
state-owned fund 1MDB.
Australia, whose banking system has been battered by some
compliance and failings, has an index result of 77; Hong Kong
gets a score of 76. Estonia scores 73. The US does not make it
into the top 20, with a score of 71, behind France, at
72.
More than two-thirds of countries score below 50, with an average
score of only 43. Since 2012, only 20 countries have
significantly improved their scores, including Estonia and Côte
D’Ivoire, and 16 have significantly declined, including,
Australia, Chile and Malta.
At the bottom end of the scale is Somalia, at just 10, with Syria
at 13 and South Sudan at 13.
“Cross-analysis with global democracy data reveals a link between
corruption and the health of democracies. Full democracies score
an average of 75 on the CPI; flawed democracies score an average
of 49; hybrid regimes - which show elements of autocratic
tendencies – score 35; autocratic regimes perform worst, with an
average score of just 30 on the CPI,” Transparency International
said.
The US score of 71 is a fall of four points since a year earlier
and the country has dropped out of the top 20 countries on the
index for the first time since 2011. The low score comes at a
time when the US is experiencing “threats to its system of checks
and balances as well as an erosion of ethical norms at the
highest levels of power”, TI said.
Brazil dropped two points since last year down to 35, also
earning its lowest CPI score in seven years.
“Our research makes a clear link between having a healthy
democracy and successfully fighting public sector corruption,”
Delia Ferreira Rubio, chair of Transparency International, said.
“Corruption is much more likely to flourish where democratic
foundations are weak and, as we have seen in many countries,
where undemocratic and populist politicians can use it to their
advantage.”