BulletProofBlog the blog on crisis communications

When it comes to the World Cup, international competition isn’t solely relegated to the playing field. Since even before the 2010 iteration of the world’s most popular sporting event began, numerous countries have been vying for the honor of hosting the tournament in 2022 – and for the hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues that come with it. For one of those countries, however, the dream of attracting hundreds of thousands of soccer fans from ... READ MORE

Last month, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Working Group on Bribery reported that in the 10-year existence of the OECD’s Anti-Bribery Convention (to which 38 nations have signed on thus far), 148 individuals and 77 companies have been sanctioned for bribing or attempting to bribe foreign government officials. Of the 148 individuals prosecuted, 40 received prison sentences. To date, the monetary penalties incurred by companies have reached €1.24 billion. While the statistics do ... READ MORE

Add another voice to the growing chorus who are signaling the dawn of a new era in the fight against corruption. In just the last several months, Obama Administration officials, leading trade organizations, and high-profile NGOs have all articulated an intensified focus on corporate corruption issues. Now, credit rating agencies have jumped onto the bandwagon – and, in the process, they have provided companies with compelling reasons to demonstrate a commitment to honest and ethical ... READ MORE

Each week, Bulletproof Blog™ features exclusive interviews with thought leaders on issues of critical importance to companies and countries. This week, with public and private sector corruption issues making headlines and raising regulators’ ire like never before, we interview Susan Côté-Freeman of Transparency International. Ms. Côté-Freeman is an expert in anti-corruption control mechanisms with a strong grasp of the best practices currently being utilized by companies and countries. As the manager of Transparency International’s Business Principles ... READ MORE

As companies seek to enhance anti-corruption controls in the face of increased regulator and media scrutiny, it should be noted that there are a number of benchmarks against which any effective compliance program can be measured. There are U.S. Federal Sentencing Guidelines; Transparency International's Business Principles for Countering Bribery; the World Economic Forum’s Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (WEF PACI); the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Good Practice on Internal Controls, Ethics and Compliance; ... READ MORE

As part of a continuing series of Bulletproof Blog™ video interviews with thought leaders across multiple disciplines and industries, I recently sat down with Nick Allard of Patton Boggs LLP to discuss the state of lobbying at a time of significant reputational focus for the industry. With politicians and others (from late night comedians to think tanks) rarely missing an opportunity to criticize the lobbying profession in recent years, Mr. Allard is quick to remind us ... READ MORE

As part of a continuing series of Bulletproof Blog™ video interviews with thought leaders across multiple disciplines and industry sectors, I recently sat down with David Kennedy, the Faculty Director of the Institute for Global Law and Policy at Harvard University, to discuss the diverse challenges facing the international community. In an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world, it is essential to understand how local policy objectives involving both public and private sectors fit into the global ... READ MORE

Today, companies have more reasons to engage in the fight against corruption than ever before. In 2010 alone, we’ve seen a record-breaking prison sentence and evidence of massive increases in nearly every measureable enforcement metric related to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). We’ve witnessed the enactment of the UK Bribery Bill 2010, which has been called the “toughest enforcement standard in the world.” We’ve heard global investors voice their desire for greater disclosure ... READ MORE

As Iraq seeks to rebuild its economic and societal infrastructure in the wake of one of the most violent and tumultuous periods in the country’s history, its efforts to curtail corruption in both the public and private sectors will play a crucial role. Corruption now plagues Iraq to such an extent (the nation currently sits near the bottom of Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index) that it rivals sectarian violence as the foremost challenge facing the ... READ MORE

Last week, a coalition of investors who manage more than US$1.6 trillion in assets wrote to 21 major corporations around the world to request enhanced reporting of anti-corruption measures. As George Dallas, Director of Corporate Governance at F&C Management and a signatory to the letter, put it, “As investors, we believe that bribery and corruption are incompatible with good corporate governance and harmful to the creation of value. Therefore, we expect the companies that we ... READ MORE