The world’s most corrupt countries have been revealed in Transparency International’s 2017 Corruption Perceptions Index. The big movers in this year’s index are the UK, whose score has improved by eight points since 2012, and Australia, whose score has fallen by eight. Usual...

Universities in the United States received a record $43.6 billion in donations from individuals, companies and organisations in 2017. But recent scandals show that universities must not neglect due diligence on the source of these donations. Top marks for university fundraisers 2017 was...

Environmental and social issues driving change in the construction industry Guest Post by Colleen Theron, Director Ardea Since Russia and Qatar won their bids to host the FIFA World Cups in 2018 and 2022 respectively, the construction industry has come under the spotlight for their human rights...

Kathryn Higgs is Director of Transparency International’s Business Integrity Program. Prior to that she was head of ethics and compliance at Tesco and chief compliance officer at Balfour Beatty. In an exclusive interview with LexisNexis, she says that technology has increased the risk of bribery...

The makers of Jim Beam whisky have paid $8 million to settle allegations of bribing government officials to enter the Indian market. The settlement is a timely reminder of the continued threat of FCPA enforcement action , and the particular risks posed by third parties in the food and drink industry...

Just three years ago, Teva Pharmaceuticals, a drug-maker in Israel, disclosed to both the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice that an on-going internal probe had revealed possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and/or local laws. Ultimately...

Companies are exposed to regulatory, financial, reputational and strategic risks, and the number of countries and NGOs with compliance expectations is on the rise. The best way to proactively manage these expectations? Risk-based due diligence and ongoing monitoring. 1—Regulatory risks...

Petrobras has reached a $1.78 billion settlement with the DOJ and SEC over bribes to politicians and political parties in Brazil. This is the first time an enforcement action over FCPA violations has exceeded a billion dollars. The amount is bigger than the nearest two settlements combined, and the case...

As the aftermath of corporate corruption and ethics scandals continue to play out in news headlines and courtrooms, spurring a continued search for expert advice and best practices on mitigating compliance risk . So, when a former compliance expert at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and a Harvard...

Forget about the turtles. Today is International Ninja Day, but what we’re on about has more to do with regulatory risk than teenagers or (as far as we know) mutants. Why does International Ninja Day make us think ‘compliance program’? International Ninja Day was the brainchild of...

If serious trivia seems like a contradiction, maybe you need to be more quizzical when it comes to anti-corruption compliance. January 4 is the one day of the year when there’s an excuse to be trivial—even in an area as serious as compliance in anti-bribery and corruption , anti-money laundering...

From AI to blockchain, companies are rapidly adopting new technologies which use data to drive business insights and manage risks more effectively . Our third volume of The Trust Issue explores how technology can also improve a company’s transparency and increase the trust it receives from customers...

The World Economic Forum (WEF) brings together leaders of government and business in the Alpine town of Davos in Switzerland this week. They are discussing the latest trends in business and society. The participant list is revealing—this year, some of the world’s biggest companies have sent...

This year is the 20th anniversary of the implementation of the OECD’s Anti-Bribery Convention. So, we went to Paris to meet Patrick Moulette, Head of the OECD Anti-Corruption Division. He explained that the global spread of negotiated settlements, particularly Deferred Prosecution Agreements, prompted...

In March, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued revised guidance for the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act’s (FCPA) Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP) concerning the adoption of rules and regulations around the use of ephemeral messaging platforms, such as Snapchat, WeChat or Telegram for business...

One of Britain’s most famous art institutions has reversed a sponsorship deal after it was revealed that the sponsor’s owner had backed a ban on teaching LGBT issues. As art organizations, universities and non-profits become more reliant on sponsorship rather than government funding, they...

Caroline Black is a partner in the white-collar crime team at the London-based law firm Dechert LLP. She has worked on several large multi-jurisdictional anti-corruption and bribery cases and advised major companies on putting in place adequate compliance and due diligence procedures. Speaking to LexisNexis...