Transparency in the Profit-Making World

This chapter lays out the history of and reasoning behind corporate secrecy, and describes the trends that have occasionally pushed for greater openness. It then addresses the concerns raised by privatization and by civil society demands for greater corporate social responsibility. It explores the rapidly changing legal regimes concerning corporate transparency in many parts of the world, with special attention to the case of South Africa, one of the few countries that specifically extends its right-to-know law to cover the private sector.