THE CASE FOR COMPLIANCE IN TIMES OF CRISIS
Much has been written about robust enforcement of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), similar transnational anti-bribery legislation in other countries and increased cooperation between law enforcement agencies around the world. Even before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, however, many countries had witnessed a number of other trends that propelled the issue of corruption and corporate compliance to the forefront.
With the onset of the pandemic, these trends have been exacerbated and joined by other factors that promise to make corruption a top priority for enforcement authorities. Only companies with effective compliance programmes deeply rooted in their corporate culture will emerge from this global health and economic crisis ethically and reputationally unscathed. This crisis will change the face of corruption risk in a handful of ways.
First, widespread anti-corruption protests during the Arab Spring of 2010-2012, Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity in 2014, Armenia’s Velvet Revolution in 2018 and similar recent outcries of popular anti-corruption sentiment in other countries have richly demonstrated that regular people will no longer tolerate unchecked corruption or dishonest elites who believe they are above the law. These popular movements cross borders with ease on Facebook and Twitter, igniting, supporting and building on each other. The public interest in the topic is slaked by investigative journalists who collaborate and learn from each other, exposing cross-border corruption without the need for formal legal assistance requests between governments.
As a result, corruption is no longer a local, secret affair. Even reclusive corrupt countries with autocratic regimes are powerless to shield themselves from scrutiny in the age of social media and the internet.
Jul-Sep 2020 Issue
TRACE