Putting a Stop to Corruption One Country at a Time
Global corruption is meeting its match and it isn’t just the United States or the U.K. that are spearheading the effort. Many countries, where corruption is becoming a problem, have stepped up their enforcement and have confronted the problem head on. As countries begin to see the economic impact of corruption and bribery has on their economy, larger and more restrictive legislation is being passed to companies to make sure these incidences don’t happen.
What governments need to understand is that, typically, it is either a 3rd party subsidiarity or single agent that opens the risk up to a company, which makes them liable for any action. What companies need to see is the amount of risk increases with the amount of 3rd parties they work with.
As Andrew Mizner explains, in his recent article “Closing The Door On Corruption” different countries with links to different industries are closing in on this gap between understanding corruption and knowing how to stop corruption.
“There is a truly global clampdown now on corruption and economic crime and it is not just a UK or US phenomenon. Jurisdictions where previously bribery and corruption has been perceived to have flourished are now taking very real, positive steps towards cracking down on corruption.”
So now that countries are becoming more aggressive on enforcing these issues, is it time for companies to adhere to, not only the FCPA and UK Bribery Act, but to all other rules and regulations of developing nations? Simply put, yes.
The cost of doing business in other countries is high, but so is the cost of not understanding the rules of where you operate. Take the Brazilian Clean Companies Act as an example, after the Petrobas scandal; Brazil began enforcing its regulation more aggressively. This opened up investigations on other companies that may have not been pursued before, had not the Petrobas incident happened.
What companies need to know is there will be added pressure to create, evaluate, and improve on their existing corruption compliance programs. Whether it is a leading global market economy you are involved with or a smaller market, having a viable, reportable, and monitor enabled system, to track any possible exposure is key for all companies. To learn more about emerging regulations for anti-corruption and compliance 2.0 solutions for any size organization, click here
