ANTI-CORRUPTION

It is essential that businesses avoid any involvement in corruption, including instances of extortion and bribery.

As well as being a PR risk, allegations of corruption can lead to extensive legal sanctions for businesses and their employees in the form of fines, or in severe cases, even imprisonment.  Such tough sanctions alone provide a strong incentive for entities to implement anti-corruption programmes into their business strategies - and tailor those programmes to match the size, geography and industry they operate in.

Anti-corruption as a part of business strategy

Businesses can insert anti-corruption clauses into contracts with international trading partners. Similarly, they can choose to encourage trading partners to present anti-corruption guidelines or policies documenting how they actively seek to combat corruption – not only in the trading partner’s immediate business, but also in relation to any contractors and suppliers.

Anti-corruption may be implemented into a business strategy by:

• observing the principles of the United Nations Convention against Corruption
• striving to achieve high ethical standards and protecting the business's reputation
• operating the business with integrity, honesty and professionalism
• working to combat bribery in any shape or form.

Our assistance

Kromann Reumert empowers businesses with advice on how to work effectively with anti-corruption, for example in relation to:

• conflicts of interest
• bribery
• facilitation payments
• gifts and donations
• interaction with suppliers
• international production
• agency relationships

Kromann Reumert’s team of experts can also assist in the preparation of codes of conduct, contractual clauses (including provisions addressing non-performance), website and intranet information, large-scale anti-corruption programmes and the set-up of whistleblower hotlines.