This week the OECD Global Anti-Corruption & Integrity Forum in Paris brought together public and private sector stakeholders from all over the globe. They had the shared aim of collaborating to enhance safeguards in an evolving global landscape around anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, fraud prevention and public integrity systems.

A clear message from the Forum was that integrity is no longer viewed simply as a regulatory requirement. Instead, robust governance and transparency frameworks are increasingly recognised as drivers of economic resilience, investor confidence and sustainable growth. For professionals working across the private client sector, including the trust industry, several themes from the discussions were particularly relevant.

The Forum coincided with the launch of the OECD Anti-Corruption and Integrity Outlook 2026. With the sub-heading ‘Harnessing the Integrity Advantage’, the Outlook assesses how countries are strengthening their anti-corruption frameworks using the OECD Public Integrity Indicators.

The Outlook highlights that while many jurisdictions have made significant progress in recent years, gaps remain in national integrity systems. Addressing these gaps is increasingly important as governments confront more complex threats, including organised economic crime, corruption in public procurement and evolving fraud risks.

There are however continuing challenges, from a lack of harmonised global standards to so-called ‘low-intensity’ bribery. It might not occur frequently but still undermines trust in institutions and distorts economic outcomes. Strengthening training for human resource and improving information sharing mechanisms while investing in institutional capacity were all identified as critical components of more effective integrity systems.

While many of the forum’s themes replicated those of previous years, it was striking how technology, particularly artificial intelligence, featured so prominently throughout the sessions.

AI is already being used in justice systems and by enforcement authorities to identify patterns of fraud and suspicious behaviour. At the same time, these technological advances need to be matched by investment in human capability. Public servants, regulators and investigators need the skills and training to use these tools effectively if they are to deliver meaningful improvements in corruption detection and prevention.

There was broad agreement that stronger coordination between agencies (ranging from tax authorities and financial intelligence units to competition regulators) can help accelerate investigations and reduce unnecessary duplication.

Speakers noted that compliance frameworks must be tailored to risk rather than relying on standardised approaches. Effective programmes should reflect the specific regulatory, operational and governance challenges faced by individual organisations.

Issues surrounding transparency and access to information also featured prominently in discussions across several sessions. The growing expectation that public data should be more accessible to strengthen oversight and accountability, including enabling civil society to play a role in identifying corruption risks. STEP members are all very familiar with this need to balance transparency with legitimate privacy protections.

As debates continue globally around access to beneficial ownership and trust register information, it is increasingly important that policymakers adopt frameworks that are both effective and proportionate. This is why STEP has been actively engaging in this space and providing practical guidance to global stakeholders on approaches that seek to strike this balance.

STEP has long been of the view, as expressed in our Tackling Economic Crime report, that firm restrictions must be placed around access of beneficial ownership registers. They ensure privacy and security for individuals who may have their personal safety compromised as a result of a broad-brush approach to widening access to information on beneficial ownership registers.

We focused on the concept of legitimate interest in our recent global guide, Legitimate Interest for Beneficial Ownership. This provides insights on jurisdictional approaches to defining legitimate interest, and recommendations for, enabling appropriate access to trust register information while safeguarding privacy and personal security.

The discussions at the forum reinforced how valuable this perspective can be. Policymakers and international organisations are continuing to grapple with how best to design transparency frameworks that support anti-corruption objectives without creating unintended risks or undermining trust in legal structures that serve legitimate family and commercial purposes.

For STEP and its global network of practitioners advising families and businesses, these discussions underline the importance of well-designed integrity systems that are both effective and proportionate.

As international conversations around transparency, financial crime and governance continue to evolve, the private client sector has an important role to play in ensuring that reforms are workable in practice and respect legitimate privacy interests.

Ben Bell, Government Affairs Manager, STEP