Fresh Help on Bribery Risk Indicators

corruption

Good news for anti-corruption enthusiasts! Five law enforcement agencies around the world have published fresh guidance on indicators of foreign bribery, to help you focus your anti-corruption risk assessments and be sure that your compliance program has the right structure and resources to tackle the threat. The guidance was released just before Christmas by the…

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Wait, Does Bribery Pay Off After All?

corruption

Fresh research suggests that the Trump Administration’s freeze on FCPA enforcement earlier this year led to a jump in the share price of corruption-prone businesses — which, in turn, raises some unsettling questions about how to make a culture of ethics and compliance truly stick in an era of diminished enforcement. The research comes from…

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UK Unveils Anti-Corruption Wish List

U.K.

The United Kingdom has unveiled its new national anti-corruption strategy, a five-year plan sure to warm the hearts of ethics and compliance professionals everywhere. It includes plans such as financial rewards for whistleblowers, faster investigation of corruption cases, and more international cooperation to fight bribery; although how much of this will actually come to pass…

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U.K. SFO Guidance on Compliance Programs!

SFO

Good news for compliance officers looking for an excuse to avoid awkward family conversation at Thanksgiving: the U.K. Serious Fraud Office just issued new guidance on when and how the agency will evaluate corporate compliance programs.  The SFO issued the guidance on Wednesday. It outlines six scenarios where SFO prosecutors might decide they need to…

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Fresh Intel on Corruption Risk

Intel

OK, so the Trump Administration is taking an ownership stake in Intel, and now senior officials say the Administration might take more stakes in defense contractors and other businesses as well. Obviously this is all nuts because, ya know, socialism is bad — but could we also pause to consider the corruption implications here?  Like,…

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Diving Into Glencore Compliance Report

Glencore

Commodities trading giant Glencore published an in-depth look at its ethics and compliance function this week, part of the company’s penance for a corporate corruption scandal it settled in 2022. Anyone wanting a glimpse into how global businesses might structure their compliance operations, especially when recovering from a misconduct scandal, look no further.  As you…

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So Much Anti-Corruption Compliance News!

corruption

We’ve seen a flurry of news in anti-corruption compliance this week — and while not all of it is bad, nor does it mean an end to corporate ethics and compliance, lots of it is rather disheartening. Let’s take a look and try to make sense of things. First is news from the Securities and…

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Europe Forms Anti-Corruption Enforcement Team

corruption

Stay on your toes, compliance officers! Britain, France, and Switzerland have announced the launch of a new anti-corruption taskforce, meant to keep up the pressure against corporate bribery and corruption even as the Trump Administration retreats from it. The leaders of the U.K. Serious Fraud Office, the Parquet National Financier in France, and the Office…

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Australia’s Adequate Procedures Guidance

Australia

Today we have a guest column from Mary Shirley, chief compliance officer at ScionHealth.  Earlier this year Australia passed new anti-corruption legislation known as the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Combating Foreign Bribery), and in August the government released voluntary guidance to help corporations understand the “adequate procedures” — that is, the elements of an effective compliance…

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Corruption Is Still Corruption, Folks

corruption

Yes, the Supreme Court reached a preposterous conclusion last Friday in Snyder v. United States, when the conservative majority ruled that a “gratuity” that’s plainly part of a corrupt bargain is not a crime under federal anti-corruption law. Anxious corporate compliance professionals, however, should begin by asking a crucial question: Who cares?  Seriously — how…

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