The global financial crisis has exposed the need for governments and companies to tackle subtle and damaging forms of graft such as nepotism and over-aggressive lobbying, a report by a leading independent watchdog claims on Wednesday.

The fallout from the credit crunch has laid bare failings across public institutions and business relating to anti-graft safeguards in hitherto obscure areas such as internal controls and conflicts of interest, says the research by Berlin-based Transparency International.