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...

For the latest installment of our Q&A series, we spoke with Simon Baptist of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). More than 100 economists and experts at the EIU analyze political and economic risks for some of the world’s biggest companies. As Global Chief Economist and Managing Director...

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...

Danske Bank and Siemens have appointed chief compliance officers to their boards of directors this summer. We explore why compliance has become accepted as a critical function in any company. At the next board meeting of Denmark’s biggest bank, a chief compliance officer will be at...

No industry is impervious to bribery and corruption risk, but companies linked to energy industries, in particular, face elevated risks in order to reap the equally-high rewards. It’s a topic we’ve touched on in blog posts on Unaoil and Petrobras . But anti-bribery and corruption regulations...

The U.S. Corporate Enforcement Policy, which incentivises companies to self-disclose bribery and corruption when they come across it, now applies to U.S. companies which are merging with or acquiring foreign companies. That’s according to a recent speech by a senior official at the Department of...

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...

French bank Société Générale expects to pay penalties of nearly $1.3 billion to settle allegations of breaching U.S.sanctions. It made dollar transfers on behalf of entities based in countries which were subject to U.S.sanctions. The fine is just the latest evidence of the...

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...

Twenty-five years ago, the United Nations General Assembly declared October 17th International Day for the Eradication of Poverty . In marking the anniversary, the UN has stated that … “all people must come together to end poverty and discrimination in order to build a sustainable future...

Corruption is a significant problem—no matter what sector it originates in. But a recent report from corruption watchdog Transparency International takes aim at one industry in particular: Defense. The report notes, “While it may be true that much has changed over the last two or three decades...

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...

2018 has been a record year of penalties issued for breaches of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Settlements totaling more than $2.96 billion were agreed by corporations found to be in breach of the Act. The year saw further indications of the FCPA’s global reach, witnessed the first judgments...

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...

Despite recent Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement actions, there are signs of more positive engagement with governance and compliance in Latin America. Emerging markets offer attractive opportunities for investors, but businesses aiming to capitalize will need to prioritize robust due diligence...

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...

Is anyone really surprised by the college admissions bribery scandal? Sure, it’s nice to think that academia is a bastion for the best and the brightest. But there’s a longstanding tradition where the family name—and perhaps an endowment—greases the wheels for less academically...

There’s no room for clowning about when it comes to risk management and maintaining the integrity of international business. According to records of ancient Chinese history, the armies of the Chu and Song states were facing each other in readiness for battle in 630 BC when a Chu warrior, Xiong...

Is your corporate compliance program up to scratch? That question will be top of mind for global organizations as they analyze recent guidance from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on evaluating the effectiveness of compliance programs. The detailed guidance explains the features of robust compliance...