The Council of Europe has issued a report that is critical of politically active non-profit groups — technically known by Internal Revenue Service parlance as 501(c) organisations — because of their ability to hide their donors. The Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) – which includes the United States as a member – reports that US federal election campaign regulation of the flow of “hard money” deserves “much praise” for its transparency.

The report issued this week also calls on the US to ratify the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption and to fully incorporate it into the law. According to the report, ratifying the Convention would increase legal impediments to corruption, particularly with regard to certain forms of bribery. GRECO will monitor the United State’s responses to the report in 2013. (more...)