Blog Editors: Jean-Pierre Méan – Nawal Aït-Hocine – Malika Aït-Mohamed Parent – Francesco Clementucci – Karen Egger
The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the individual author in his or her individual capacity and the information herein is not intended to constitute legal advice. Readers are encouraged to seek legal counsel regarding anti-corruption laws or any other legal issue.
Best practices on training executives on anti-corruption laws
By Marc Tassé
Published on Tuesday September 24, 2019
Good strategists manage uncertainty by playing the probabilities, but too many executives use wishful thinking when it comes to anti-corruption compliance. Playing the probabilities means understanding the odds of success. Just 1 in 12 companies manages to mitigate reputational risk exposure resulting from non-compliance and therefore this result in a high level of reputational risk exposure.
Establishing a Corporate Compliance Program is no longer “Nice to Have”, but rather a “Must Have”
By Marc Tassé
Published on Tuesday September 10, 2019
Over the last few years we can observe a strong increase of international collaboration in enforcement by various authorities. Not only does this help bring international corruption cases to conclusion more quickly but it also gives a clear message to potential perpetrators: chances of getting caught are increasing.
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!)?
Launch of the new anti-bribery / anti-corruption self-assessment online tool: where does your organization stand?
By David Simpson
Published 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.
(suite…)How 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?
(suite…)What 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.
(suite…)How 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. (suite…)
How 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. (suite…)
Is a tip a bribe?
By Jean-Pierre Méan
Published on Tuesday October 2, 2018
Usage with respect to tipping varies widely from country to country. In certain countries it is not required but expected, in others, it is not expected and rarely practiced and in yet others it is taken for granted and may even be added to the bill of foreigners expected to forget it. The amounts of tips also vary widely and go from rounding up the bill to 10, 15 or even 20%. (suite…)
TI’s Report on the enforcement of the OECD Convention is out
By Jean-Pierre Méan
Published on Tuesday September 18, 2018
Transparency International has just published its 2018 Exporting Corruption Report on the enforcement of the OECD Convention. This is the 12th edition of this report that has been published annually from 2005 to 2015.
Although all countries to the OECD Convention have enacted legislation that has been considered to fulfill the requirements of the Convention (except for Peru that joined the Convention in July 2018 and Argentina and Ireland that will undergo a further review of their legislation in 2019), the level of implantation of these legislations varies widely. (suite…)