Bribery and Corruption can be a highly flexible model depending on the market; however The Bribery Act or the FCPA is not.
Xi Jinping, the newly installed head of the Chinese Communist Party, has already signaled that corruption will be one of the themes of his tenure. "Worms come only after matter decays" – said the future Chinese leader to emphasize his point1.
When corruption becomes increasingly serious, it will automatically doom the business and the state. In recent years, bribery and corruption activities and serious violations of disciplinary rules and laws continue to shock the world. Bribery, Fraud and Corruption is extremely harmful in nature and utterly destructive politically, shocking people to the core.
In the western world, it could be a homeowner slipping the cable man $10 for free sports channel. Elsewhere in the world it could be a police chief setting up a mistress in a free apartment. The opposite is often also the case.
Corruption norms and perceptions
The there are other serious and disgusting concerns. In Afghanistan, corruption could mean the disappearance of $900 million from a bank that has been linked to a Ponzi scheme. In Zimbabwe, it could mean hospital nurses charging pregnant women $5 every time they scream in pain, as a kind of false-alarm fee.
Cultural norms can make it difficult to determine which countries have the most reliable or most corrupt public sectors, although the annual Corruption Perceptions Index from Transparency International makes for compelling albeit disturbing reading. The rankings are widely accepted and often referenced by scholars, journalists, business executives and government officials.
No matter what the country ranking is In Transparency's newly published index, almost all countries in the world focus on continued transparency and corruption issues in local, state and national government institutions and processes.
Overriding political mandate
China finished in 80th place on the index, a shade dirtier than Sri Lanka but cleaner than Thailand (88) and India (94). The Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia did not even make the top 100.
Corruption is rampant in most developing countries and is a serious problem because it hinders the country's development and will continue not to tolerate corruption. However not allowing
corruption to be a part of many peoples’ lives is entirely different issue. Political leaders have one overriding political mandate: to clean up corruption or clear out.
Corruption and its manifestations are at the heart of the developing countries greatest challenges. The outflow of money through corruption, crime, and tax evasion in China is as high as $3.72 trillion over the past decade.
At the 7th annual European GRC Summit, we address various International Bribery, Fraud and Corruption issues from at least three different angles with primary focus on:
- Leveraging Internal Controls to Detect and Monitor Corrupt Payments thru Effective Structures, Internal Controls, Risk Management that Meet Regulators’ Expectations
- Effective Anti-Bribery and Corruption Risk Assessment and Controls capable of Assessing New Risks for Financial Institutions
- Implementing the Tone-at-the-Top and a fitting Global Anti-Corruption Compliance Program
The Speakers are:
- Joseph Simons, Senior Legal Council, Maersk Group; will look at the practical issues affecting the corporate world in connection with the implementation of the UK Bribery Act and the FCPA
- Judith Canning, from PwC will look at the issues from an audit and oversight perspective
- Gareth Garvey, Chief Consultant from Copenhagen Charter will look at the monitoring and certification aspects of Bribery, Fraud and Corruption issues
