Tag Archives: ethics

Shruti Shah Discusses the Development and Promotion of Ways to Combat Corruption

03 Friday Aug 2018

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Photo Credit: CIPE

On the latest edition of CIPE’s Democracy that Delivers podcast, Shruti Shah, President and CEO of the Coalition for Integrity, discusses the growing demand for ethics & accountability around the world, and the role of the Coalition as they execute their mission.

Shah illustrates her lifelong commitment to fighting corruption, and elaborates on the Coalition’s mission to promote greater transparency and accountability, and looks forward at the positive changes to come in ethics, compliance and integrity programs.

Four important points laid out by Shah in regards to how organizations can set a good culture of compliance:

1. Make sure there are (anonymous) reporting mechanisms
2. Set good incentives and discourage bad incentives
3. Ensure disciplinary measures
4. Accountability

This special Democracy that Delivers podcast is part of an ongoing series organized by CIPE’s Anti-Corruption & Governance Center.

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SCCE’s new CEO Gerry Zack talks Compliance with CIPE

22 Friday Jun 2018

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From left to right: Anna Kompanek, Gerry Zack, and Ken Jaques

CIPE’s Democracy that Delivers podcast host Ken Jaques and CIPE’s Director of Global Programs Anna Kompanek, sat down with incoming CEO of the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE), Gerry Zack. Zack discusses how fraud and compliance have evolved over the last 30 years. Prior to joining SCCE, Zack spent his career providing services involving the prevention, detection, and investigation of fraud, corruption, and noncompliance.

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Private Sector Participation in the Global Magnitsky Act

15 Tuesday May 2018

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Photo Credit: CIPE

On May 15, one day after this blog was originally published by the FCPA Blog, Russian lawmakers adopted in the first reading amendments to the Criminal Code to make it a criminal offence to observe sanctions imposed by the United States or other foreign countries on Russian oligarchs and government officials. The offense is proposed to be punishable by up to four years in prison. The draft also makes it a criminal offense for Russian citizens to help foreign governments sanction senior Russian government officials and oligarchs by providing advice or information, punishable by up to three years in prison. These changes seek to undermine the sanctions introduced by the U.S. Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) adopted in August 2017 and imposed by the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in April 2018. These U.S. sanctions were adopted in response to the Kremlin’s interference in the U.S.  Read More...

Podcast: Changing the Global Compliance Environment

26 Monday Mar 2018

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Photo Credit: SCCE “Compliance & Ethics Blog”

A new podcast from the Society of Corporate Compliance & Ethics (SCCE) features CIPE’s global anti-corruption work at a time when more and more countries are enacting legislation designed to restrict bribe-making and bribe-taking. In this edition of the weekly “Compliance Perspectives” podcast, host Adam Turteltaub, an SCCE vice president, and Frank Brown, Director of CIPE’s new Anti-Corruption and Governance Center, offer listeners an overview of CIPE’s mission in those emerging market countries where new laws make the business community increasingly sensitive to corruption risk.

In one such country, Indonesia, a recent Supreme Court ruling found that companies are subject to corporate criminal liability for corrupt practices. Overnight, this caught business leaders’ attention as they strove to understand the implications for their own operations and to discern which Indonesian law enforcement body would take the lead in the new environment. The development also illustrated the sort of opportunity that CIPE looks for in deciding where to deploy limited anti-corruption resources.  Read More...

The Dilemma of Corporate Governance and Business Ethics in Sudan

15 Friday Dec 2017

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Photo Credit: CIPE

Decades of conflict, civil war, and the secession of South Sudan in 2011, combined with the slump in global oil prices, have had a profound effect on Sudan’s economy and developmental progress. As the country attempts to emerge from conflict and integrate into the global economy following the lifting of sanctions, it must continue to navigate institutional challenges and steady itself in the aftermath of multiple economic shocks. With reduced international investment and a private sector that faces complex obstacles, fighting corruption is paramount to a successful transition and an imperative for future growth.

To this end, CIPE and its local partner, Al Oula, launched an anti-corruption initiative to support the private sector in mitigating corruption at the firm level while engaging in advocacy to promote transparency and limit opportunities for illicit behavior. Dirdeiry M. Ahmed, Ph.D., a passionate advocate for effective, sustainable development in Sudan, delivered a speech at the initiative’s inaugural summit to call attention to the challenges facing the business community in Sudan.  Read More...

The FIFA Scandal: What We Can Learn about Ethics and Compliance

29 Monday May 2017

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Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Uruguay)

Soccer (or “football” depending on your geographic orientation) is often referred to as the “beautiful game.” Of late, as recently as this month, the sport has become a bit less beautiful. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (known as FIFA), the international governing body of soccer, has been embroiled in a corruption scandal that has rocked the organization to its core.

It began in May 2015. Fourteen FIFA officials were arrested and indicted in connection with an investigation by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and US Justice Department into wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering, spanning a period of 24 years. That December, 16 more officials, including two FIFA vice-presidents, were arrested on similar corruption charges. Since then, the events snowballed into a full-blown scandal, with longtime FIFA President Sepp Blatter and other top officials banned from FIFA activities. The investigation into FIFA has revealed a toxic culture of unethical behavior, non-compliance and corruption that started from the top and trickled down to every facet of the organization.  Read More...

Building an Ethical Culture

12 Wednesday Apr 2017

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Photo Credit: Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (via Flickr)

For any company to reach its full potential, a change toward a culture of compliance and ethics is needed. This change should start from the top, with management leading the way. However, to truly foster an environment of compliance and ethics, everyone in the organization must be on board. Companies are open systems, filled with various networks and levels of relationships. Therefore, a holistic approach to building an ethical culture is required and must focus on every level of the system (individual engagement and motivation, interpersonal interactions, group dynamics, relationships among groups, and interactions with external stakeholders).

According to Alison Taylor, Director of Business for Social Responsibility, there are five levels at which companies should build an ethical culture: individual, interpersonal, group, intergroup and inter-organizational. At the individual level, employees will likely be more receptive to a culture of ethics if they are rewarded and their performance measured based on compliance and ethical behavior in the workplace.  Read More...

Transparency International Releases 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index

27 Friday Jan 2017

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Photo Credit: Transparency International

The interplay of corruption and inequality feed off each other to form a destructive cycle between corruption, unequal distribution of power in a society and unequal distribution of wealth. This is the main conclusion from the recently published Transparency International’s (TI) 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), which highlights the connection between corruption and inequality.

TI’s CPI Index scores and ranks countries based on how corrupt a country’s public sector is perceived to be. The composite index uses a combination of surveys and assessments of corruption by a variety of independent institutions specializing in business climate analysis. Each country is scored on a scale of 0-100, with a 0 indicating highly corrupt and a 100 representing very clean.

Of the 176 countries covered in the 2016 CPI, over 120 scored a 50 or below, with the global average at an alarming 43. Less than a third of the countries managed to score above the midpoint.  Read More...

Maximizing Your Code of Conduct

18 Friday Nov 2016

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Photo Credit: Flickr

Many employees often have the attitude that their company’s code of conduct is merely a policy when in reality the code should serve as the foundation of any given organization, capturing its unique values and culture. A code of conduct should be more than just a document but an experience that inspires employees to adhere to a code while also respecting the reality of workforce trends.

The best codes align with an organization’s message and are an authentic expression of the workplaces’ culture. As a result, codes should incorporate the organization’s mission and values throughout the document in order to develop a message that is meaningful to employees. Additionally, a code developed with the full backing of key constituents (i.e. board, senior leadership, global partners, etc.) will resonate strongly among employees. A high-impact message or letter from the CEO/leader can go a long way in inspiring a workforce to embrace and actively engage with a code of conduct or ethics.  Read More...

Reflecting on Corporate Compliance and Ethics Week in Pakistan

14 Monday Dec 2015

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Photo Credit Muhammad Talib Uz Zaman

Compliance is essential to avoiding corruption in value chains but it is still not the primary focus for many business owners, especially in emerging markets. As Director of Public Policy at the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics Corporate Joe Murphy explains, “Making sure your people do the right thing may just not seem as exciting or essential as running and growing the business.” The reality is, however, that compliance can have a major impact on many primary functions of a business.

Compliance and Ethics Week was first observed in 2005 by the Health Care Compliance Association and the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics in the U.S. to highlight the importance of compliance and ethics in their member organizations. A decade later, the week has gained momentum, and is now celebrated by companies across the globe including Emirates National Oil Company, and Velia Consulting Limited in Ghana – to name a few. Celebratory activities included slogan and mascot contests, recognizing compliance champions within the organization who have contributed to company compliance efforts, and launching updated codes of ethics and business conduct.

In celebration of Corporate Compliance and Ethics Week – November 1-7– CIPE Pakistan and Washington based think-tank Accountability Lab hosted a panel discussion in Karachi on compliance practices in third party businesses. Companies and vendors from different sectors including pharmaceutical, oil and gas, shipping, fast moving consumer goods, packaging and distribution, electric appliances, and textile and apparel joined the conversation. Participants discussed the variety of challenges facing businesses including:  How do companies ensure that third party practices uphold the same business standards as the contracting company? How do you know that you are doing business with an ethical organization? How do you overcome challenges related to enforcement? How can training help support better compliance practices? Read more…