While here in the U.S., companies may be focused more than ever on issues of proper corporate compliance given the stress being put on this subject by various government bodies, and though they may be working strenuously to meet these demands, those companies whose business is conducted at least in part overseas must now wonder to what extent their foreign counterparts are concerned with these matters as well. Take, for example, the issue of bribery. While this topic may be exclusively discussed and forbidden by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and though companies may work hard to prevent problems here, what about those individuals in their foreign branches where such practices may be far more common, or even expected? In light of this recent push towards better compliance, this has become an even more difficult subject to handle, though a recent study of those cultures struggling with corruption may serve to shed light on the issue.
One recent report which looked specifically at these compliance issues in Latin American cultures has shown the countries of Haiti and Guyana to be the most tolerant of bribery practices, justifying it against the current state of the global economy. However, even here, in these countries deemed most tolerant, only roughly a third of those polled believed bribery to be tolerable. Those cultures with an incredibly low tolerance for bribery, less than 7%, were Guatemala, Brazil, and Chile. Mexico fell somewhere in the middle to high range of bribery risk in this survey conducted prior to the Walmart scandal, with slightly less than a quarter of those polled believing that bribery is an acceptable business practice.
Yet another interesting discovery of this study was the precedence for bribery in these cultures. The numbers represented above were solely for those local individuals attempting to bribe public officials. On the other hand, this study found that attempts by foreign individuals to bribe these same officials were met with far less effectiveness and were even met with offense. The study also found that those most willing to accept the practice of bribery were young, male, urban citizens. It is this and other such data that companies should really consider when plans are being made regarding corporate governance practices in their foreign dealings, particularly as the results found here run fairly contrary to many people’s beliefs about the level of corruption seen in a number of these countries.
However, as heartening as these number might be, this should not be taken as an excuse for any company to relax their efforts in regard to FCPA compliance measures. It is still just as important as ever that companies put in the effort to monitor and prevent potential occurrences of corruption in all of their foreign endeavors. This should begin with the thorough training of a company’s employees, and, taking it a step further, the training of those foreign individuals with whom the company will be conducting their business to ensure that all parties are aware of the dangers and repercussions of such activity, and can help put a stop these practices as efficiently as possible.
Published by Conselium Executive Search, the global leader in compliance search.
