World's biggest firms fail at transparency: survey

Washington

MOST of the world's biggest companies get a failing grade for transparency and are far too secretive about how they operate, despite mounting pressure for business to stand firm against bribery, corruption and tax avoidance, a survey has found.

Transparency International, the leading anti-corruption watchdog, said that on average, 124 global corporations with a market value exceeding US$14 trillion scored 3.8 out of 10 for their level of corporate openness and for fighting corruption.

While progress has been made in recent years on the corporate anti-corruption front, businesses remain far too opaque about their structure and country operations, it said in the latest corporate transparency rankings released on Wednesda…