148. Alanna Markle & Thom Townsend on measuring the impact of Beneficial Ownership Transparency

In this episode of Kickback, host Tom Shipley sits down with Thom Townsend, the executive director of Open Ownership, and Alanna Markle, the senior manager for policy and research at Open Ownership, to map out the global research agenda for Beneficial Ownership Transparency (BOT).

Highlighting cutting-edge research from a recent symposium of 150 global experts, the conversation explores how BOT is being used across diverse sectors, from tracking media capture to mapping real estate. Thom and Alanna discuss the methodological struggles of measuring the real-world impact of hidden illicit finances, and issue an urgent call for academic researchers to help find the anti-corruption movement's ultimate "holy grail": definitively proving the economic value of investing in transparency.

Links to discussed publications:

Research Symposium Synthesis Report: Evidence and impact of beneficial ownership transparency: https://www.openownership.org/en/publications/httpswwwopenownershiporgenpublicationsresearch-symposium-synthesis-report/

From reform to results: Introducing BEAM, a new programme to measure impact in beneficial ownership transparency: https://www.openownership.org/en/blog/from-reform-to-results-introducing-beam-a-new-programme-to-measure-impact-in-beneficial-ownership-transparency/