Money and politics are inextricably linked. The functioning of contemporary democracies necessitates political financing and the combination of private and public funding sources. However, there is a strong need to control unfair and illegal practices and to regulate political finance in light of the role political parties play in the democratic process. Attempts to regulate political finance typically include codes of conducts for political parties, disclosure rules, contributions. and expenditure limits. A number of factors are likely to have an impact on the effectiveness of such regulatory regimes, including the quality of the regulation as well as political will and commitment. Public agencies in charge of ensuring effective implementation of political finance regulations vary from country to country (e.g. governmental departments, the Attorney General, audit offices or state controller). The scope of their mandate, independence, technical and financial capacity are contributing f