Countering Corrupting Conflicts of Interest : The Example of Hong Kong

This paper views corruption as arising from a conflict of interests, in which the corrupt actor pursues a private interest at the expense of an official or professional duty. In this way, conflicts of interest are at the root of corrupt behaviour in both the public and the private sector. Such conflicts can be countered by structural strategies that subject the agent to limited discretion, increased supervision or transparency. An independent anti-corruption agency is a powerful check of this type. Conflicts of interest can also be combated by increasing the cost of pursuing the private interest, whether that cost be monetary or in the form of a loss of freedom or reputation. Increasing the probability that such cost will be incurred augments the deterrent factor, and thus the quality of oversight, investigation and prosecution will increase the cost of corruption to potential actors and reduce the frequency of its occurrence. The Hong Kong anti-corruption regime combines all of these techniques in exemplary fashion. This paper uses the example of Hong Kong to analyze how corrupting conflicts of interest can be countered through law and related programmes