OPINION

Declarations of assets

The announced extension of the declaration of assets requirement to cover about 200,000 people, and a ban on a large number of people from playing the stock market, means more bureaucracy. But this is simply a way to hide the State’s inability to control tax evasion and corruption, as well as stock market officials’ difficulty in establishing a credible capital market. These failings have led the government to draw up mass legislation that only multiplies the distortions in the economic system. When tax transactions are being simplified and ways are being sought to remove disincentives to economic activity, the government has decided to introduce restrictions that are unlikely to fulfill their purpose, and in fact will cause further harm. Broadening the declaration of assets requirement will add more bureaucracy and probably raise obstacles to all kinds of activities, but will do nothing to stamp out corruption. A ban on stock market transactions for judicial officials, for example, will do nothing to restrict insider trading by those in the know. In any case, everywhere in the world this has shown itself to be very difficult to prove. What good will it do to stop them from playing on only one out of the 200 or 300 markets around the world? Simply put, these measures indicate ignorance of the modern world of finance and an inability to fight corruption and improve transparency without restricting economic freedom. Only a modern and independent state is capable of dealing with problems like these. As for those who bear the burden of responsibility for decisions, it would have been enough to do just one thing, such as in the US. As soon as they assume power, public officials hand over the management of their assets to independent investment institutions during their term.

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