This year’s Kroll Fraud and Financial Crime Report found companies are growing increasingly concerned that third parties are driving a higher risk of financial crime. We read through the report to pull out lessons for companies from this survey of 400 executives across 8 countries. By implementing these lessons–with help from LexisNexis–firms can improve their management of third party risk. “Third-party gatekeepers...
Millions of companies around the world have been impacted by regulations which mandate them to carry out ESG and human rights due diligence (HRDD in the last few years–or they soon will be. These regulations bring new legal, financial, strategic and reputational risks for firms. However, navigating this regulatory landscape is further complicated by disparate requirements across jurisdictions and the nuanced interpretations...
Global companies have been fined hundreds of millions of dollars for alleged compliance breaches in the last year. Whether the allegations against them related to bribery and corruption or breaches of new human rights due diligence legislation, a recurring theme in many cases was the involvement of third parties. In the first blog in our Third-Party Risk series, we dive deeper into four of those cases and offer clear...
From Stricter Sanctions to Broken Supply Chains: What the Ukrainian War has Meant for Third Party Risk Management February 2024 will mark two years since the latest conflict in Ukraine began. As well as its tragic impact on so many lives, the war has also brought new third party risks which companies need manage–or face supply chain interruptions or even enforcement action by regulators. In this blog, we look at the...
Third parties help companies to deliver their products and services, but they also expose them to regulatory, financial, strategic and reputational risks. In the latest blog in our third party risk series, we look further at five key third party risks facing your company. Then, we explain how companies can mitigate them by investing in the right data and technology to support an effective compliance operation. 1. Regulatory...
Financial crimes such as bribery, corruption and money laundering are becoming more common and more complex. One of the most common reasons for a company becoming implicated in alleged financial crime is its exposure to the activities of its third parties and suppliers. In this blog, we look at the trends in financial crime that your firm should be aware of. We then suggest how companies can improve their third party...
Over the last five years, the dominant regulatory trend in global compliance has been the spread of legislation which mandates companies to carry out Human Rights and ESG Due Diligence (HRDD) on third parties and suppliers. This has significant implications for any company operating in a jurisdiction with HRDD regulations–or whose third parties and suppliers operate there. In the latest blog in our Third Party Risk Series...
Today’s PR specialists shoulder many responsibilities—but there is perhaps nothing more fundamental to a successful communications strategy than ongoing media monitoring. After all, how can you accurately measure the effectiveness of your key messages or conduct competitive research if you don’t understand how your brand is being portrayed? While automated solutions are ideal for day-in, day-out media monitoring needs...
What Companies Can Learn From 5 Recent Fines by Global Regulators for Alleged Money Laundering Alleged breaches of Anti-Money Laundering regulations are leading to increasingly large fines against companies, as we have shown over the course of this AML Risk series . In this blog, we dive deeper into five recent enforcement actions by regulators around the world to find lessons all companies can learn to improve their...
Anti-money laundering fines are up by 50%. Here's how your company can avoid being next Avoiding a breach of Anti-Money Laundering ( AML ) regulations–and the fine that follows–should be a priority for any company in 2023. The financial costs of a compliance failure is increasing, with global fines against companies rising by 50% year-on-year. In the latest blog in our AML series, we look some recent global fines for...
Prevent and Detect: How Companies Can Spot Money Laundering Before the Fine Companies are receiving ever larger fines for allegedly breaching anti-money laundering regulations–in fact, the total fines issued globally in 2022 was 50% higher than in 2021. As well as the financial hit, compliance breaches inflict significant legal, reputational and strategic damage on companies. It is therefore critical that banks and...
Seven Ways Companies Can Effectively Respond to the Global Spread of New Anti-Money Laundering Regulations In the last blog in our AML series , we outlined the major developments which are driving rapid regulatory changes across the world. Today, we are going a step further by suggesting seven ways companies should respond to these emerging regulatory risks. Implementing these best practices for compliance and due diligence...
Sanctions are often hot topics of international news reports, especially as they relate to foreign governments and international relations. But, you may not realize that sanctions can be levied to any entity that violates regulations. Sanctions are also important to businesses, and working with those who have been sanctioned can have serious consequences. As such, monitoring and understanding sanction lists is a key...
Organizations are facing more calls for Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) accountability than possibly ever before. Investors want to know that the companies they own stock in are good stewards of the earth and responsible corporate citizens. Likewise, consumers want to know the brands they do business with share the same core principles as they do. And governments and regulatory bodies are now looking to usher...
As environmental, social, and governance regulation is becoming a standard requirement--not only from government regulation but from shareholder representations, businesses need to think more about how they are incorporating it into their strategies. However, only 5% of the UK’s largest companies have published a ‘credible’ environmental plan that would comply with forthcoming regulations, according to a new report. This...
The Federal Corruptions Policy Act was established to address and end corruption and bribery in US business dealings with foreign officials. The FCPA seeks to keep legitimate businesses from losing contracts to companies engaged in corruption and bribery. The act does not solely speak to first tier businesses—it further requires all businesses have a process of due diligence to assure corruption and bribery is not happening...
With the ever-growing focus on ESG and increased compliance legislation across the globe, it has become even more important for business to keep up with regulation to avoid costly sanctions. Even if your business is not violating the law directly, you can be found liable for sanctions if your third-party partners are violating the law. That's why a rigorous and continuous due diligence process is so important. In...
The Wolfsberg Principles are widely regarded as authoritative guidance for how financial institutions should respond to the rising risks of bribery and corruption. New guidance has recently been released for the first time in six years. We unpack its main recommendations of risk factors which should prompt banks to carry out enhanced due diligence, and explain how technology can help to improve and upgrade their compliance...
According to recent estimates, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) account for over 10% of the world’s GDP and more than a fifth of the world’s largest companies.The increasing presence of SOEs in the global economy has resulted in a number of high-profile corruption and bribery cases. These cases represent a profound compliance challenge for entities engaging with SOEs, requiring enhanced due diligence . Decrypting bribery...
We are already more than halfway through 2023, so if your business isn’t up to date on all the newest trends and shortcuts in the realm of risk mitigation and compliance, suffice it to say you’re falling behind. This year, there is an even greater push on ESG compliance , protection from rising technology like AI and Crypto, and the general need for due diligence to avoid working with sanctioned third parties. Here...
As the world has changed, so have requirements for managing business risk. Supply chains have grown more complex and less transparent. Negative news spreads like wildfire across myriad media channels. And governments—including the EU, UK and US—have upped regulatory pressures for companies to address adverse human rights and environmental impacts associated with doing business. Expanding on existing laws related to...
Regulators increasingly require corporates and financial services firms to incorporate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risks into their due diligence and reputational risk management processes. ESG also brings opportunity: asset managers and investment banks have enjoyed significant returns by moving assets into sustainable funds, while companies who are transparent about their ESG commitments have been profitable...
Regulators increasingly require corporates and financial services firms to incorporate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risks into their due diligence and reputational risk management processes. ESG also brings opportunity: asset managers and investment banks have enjoyed significant returns by moving assets into sustainable funds, while companies who are transparent about their ESG commitments have been profitable...
Identifying and mitigating money laundering risks is among the most important compliance tasks for any financial services company. Yet, in 2023, four trends are making this task harder than ever before, while ever-strengthening legislation across the world increases the cost of an AML failure. Our new White Paper looks at the main trends in relation to money laundering risk; summarises the key legislative developments...
At the 2020 World Economic Forum, Kevin Hewitt, Chairman of the EMEA region of FTI Consulting, shared survey results of 2,200 executives from private and publicly traded companies across all G-20 countries. The topic? Risk and resilience. In what now feels like a moment of second sight, Hewitt commented , “It is not a matter of if a company will face an inflection point or crisis, but when it will happen—meaning the...