Rewarding Good Behavior for Anti-Corruption Compliance & It Comes with a Price
What happens to companies that have been found guilty of bribery and corruption issues but want to continue to conduct business in certain markets? Canada has had very strict rules when it comes to bribery and corruption and forces companies to be debarred for no less then 10 years. What this means is that companies need to have a more sense of urgency when trying to deter issues such as these.
Companies that are proactive do see a lesser amount of issues; governments see this as forward thinking for companies trying to make a difference.
According to an article written by Ross Marowits of the Canadian Press, the Canadian government is softening its anti-corruption rules, by reducing penalties for companies that are seeking government work. Of course with a less permanent penalty comes with cooperation that companies will have increased action taken to prevent such issues in the future. This would be a benefit for most companies, as it would help protect them from bribery issues, while encouraging the possible partnership between government bodies.
Suppliers and 3rd party business partners are one of the bigger concerns when it comes to corruption and bribery, as these are major points of vulnerabilities. Suppliers also have an opportunity to not be automatically excluded due to 3rd party action. As long as they are able to prove that their efforts are creating a prevention method to stop or lessen bribery and corruption risk.
“Also, suppliers will no longer be automatically ineligible for government work because of the conduct of affiliates unless it can be demonstrated that the supplier had control over the convicted affiliate.”
Ultimately, monitoring and measuring activity of all of your 3rd parties is the need for many companies. These efforts by companies are being noticed but have to be refined in order to be seen as being proactive. Although this article states that certain suppliers wont be held responsible for the actions of their subsidiaries, they will sill be required to ensure that they are doing everything possible to prevent such issues. How are companies and suppliers monitoring their 3rd parties and doing their due diligence? Click here to learn more.
