Gift and hospitality in Asia: respecting local culture or bribery?
By David Simpson Published on Thursday July 11, 2019 VIDEO – Gift giving and hospitality is such an important part of doing business in Asia – but when does one person’s idea of a gift and/ or hospitality become someone else’s idea of bribery (most notably law enforcement agencies!)? This video explores how businesses operating in Asia and elsewhere can successfully navigate between respecting the local cultures, while at the same time ensuring that they are in compliance with relevant anti-bribery and anti-corruption regulations. It also includes a...
Read MoreLaunch of the new anti-bribery / anti-corruption self-assessment online tool: where does your organization stand?
By David SimpsonPublished on Tuesday January 29, 2019 InterPraxis, together with the Anti-Corruption Experts (ACE) group are pleased to announce the launch of our new online anti-bribery/anti-corruption readiness assessment tool. This short self-assessment will provide your organization with an “at-a-glance” diagnostic score – to help demonstrate where it stands in terms of its policies, procedures and controls to combat bribery and corruption and its alignment with evolving regulatory requirements and best practice standards. We have developed this tool based on feedback from internal and...
Read MoreHow to recognize the tone from the top?
By Jean-Pierre Méan Published on Tuesday January 8, 2019 There is a wide consensus amongst all those involved in compliance and anti-bribery that the success of an integrity program requires an unflinching commitment at the highest levels of the organization, aka tone from the top, leadership or walking the talk. But what does this commitment consist of and how does it express itself? The launch of an anti-bribery program is often accompanied by a statement expressing support for the program by the Board and Top Management. This statement, signed by the Chairman and the CEO, is intended to...
Read MoreWhat makes the corrupt tick?
By Jean-Pierre Méan Published on Tuesday December 11, 2018 One of the often cited causes of corruption is that in some (or more than some) countries, public officials need bribes to complement salaries that are hardly sufficient to cover their basic needs. This may be true to some extent, but it is equally true that, in those countries, public officials enjoy the privilege of having a salary (admittedly not always paid in time and sometime outstanding for extended periods) in an environment where large segments of the population do not. Whether or not complementing one’s salary is...
Read MoreHow does nepotism relate to bribery?
By Jean-Pierre Méan Published on Tuesday November 13, 2018 Nepotism (from “nipote”, nephew in Italian) is the practice to favor one’s relatives for appointments to prestigious and coveted positions . It was not infrequent in church circles in the middle ages and until the 16thcentury (especially under the Borgia popes), whereby the term “nephew” may have described a closer relationship than that of uncle to nephew. In modern times, where the practice is by no means limited to nephews, one speaks rather of favoritism or cronyism, which implies giving preference to a friend or relative...
Read MoreHow to Unmask Phoney Anti-Corruption Measures
By Jean-Pierre Méan Published on Tuesday October 23, 2018 With anti-corruption management systems such as ISO 37001 being currently en vogue it is not surprising that some actors may want to use them not as tools to prevent corruption but as instruments to pretend to prevent corruption or to cover up continuing poor practices with a veil of respectability. Here are a few ideas on how to unmask such subterfuges. The form and shape of an organization’s anti-corruption policy may give some indication of the seriousness of its anti-corruption efforts. Some organizations, including those...
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