• Business and corruption

Business and corruption

Businesses can and must play their part in fighting corruption by resisting bribery and promoting reform. This report explains what they can do, and how they can do it. It analyses the commercial costs and risks associated with corruption, reviews the emerging international legal regime and makes practical recommendations for how to tackle problems.

The report also identifies two major challenges that need to be overcome to fight corruption effectively. They are:

• a clear recognition of the costs of corruption: businesses loose out on contract opportunities and host countries loose out on the investment of honest companies with higher ethical standards
• a better record of awareness-raising as this is fundamental for an effective legal anti-corruption regime

The report argues that companies must:

• back up anti-bribery codes with effective compliance procedures such as training and awareness-raising programmes, guidelines on ‘grey areas’, and supportive mechanisms such as confidential hotlines
• check the integrity records of commercial agents or other intermediaries, and ensure that all their representatives – whether employed directly or paid by commission – abide by the same rules
• map out corruption risks in advance when operating in high-risk regions, and take steps to anticipate and prevent problems rather than simply reacting when it is already too late.

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