Why the manufacturing sector needs to step up on bribery and corruption
Global law firm Eversheds has launched a report looking at how businesses are responding to bribery and corruption. It found:
- 89 percent of board-level executives in the manufacturing sector have identified bribery or corruption in their organisation
- 51 percent admit their anti-bribery policy does not work
- 30 percent do not conduct anti-bribery due diligence as part of M&A activity
The company added:
With corruption and bribery at the forefront of the international news agenda due to May’s David Cameron-hosted international anti-corruption summit, a new report from Eversheds reveals that 89% of board-level executives in the manufacturing sector have identified bribery or corruption in their organisation, but the majority don’t understand their company’s anti-bribery policy, with 51 percent admitting that their policy does not work.
The government is once again proposing a corporate ‘failure to prevent economic crime’ offence. It will be a massive game-changer for prosecutors like the UK SFO, as it will make it far easier to prosecute corporate wrong-doing. Many companies in manufacturing will be concerned that they could be held criminally liable for failing to prevent not just corruption (which is already caught under the UK Bribery Act) but all types of economic crime like money laundering, fraud, tax evasion and cyber security breaches.
So, how should businesses in manufacturing make sure they’re doing all they can in the name of compliance? Particularly when dealing with international markets that may pose higher bribery risk?
With 43 percent of manufacturing busineses saying their approach to bribery is inappropriate for their business, Neill Blundell, head of the fraud and investigations group at Eversheds, explores the findings of its ‘Beneath the Surface’ report, and discusses how companies in the sector can successfully mitigate the impact and incidence of bribery and corruption.
