Evolution of Anti-bribery-Corruption Investigations
More than 40 participants attended the Learn At Lunch talk on “Evolution of Anti-bribery/Corruption Investigations” on 12 December 2019. Mr Benjamin Ee, Managing Director, Risk Advisory & Investigations, FTI Consulting gave an overview of the bribery and corruption landscape in Asia, the enforcement trends and the evolution of technology for such investigations through the years.
Mr Ee highlighted that bribery and corruption risk is a constant threat in Asia through the years. Very often, the real loss for MNCs is reputational damage as a result of being known to have been investigated and penalised for anti- bribery/corruption regulatory enforcements. The key countermeasures are having a strong compliance program and early detection to prevent and reduce financial losses. As transactions are now mostly electronic, the use of predictive coding in the monitoring of financial transactions and investigations will improve efficiency and the success rate of early discovery of non-compliant activities.
“Operating in a perceived high bribery and corruption risk region, where more enforcements may be imminent, frequent assessments on compliance program, screening third party business partners along with monitoring of transactions with them and continuous employee training would help companies be in a better position to tackle the risks,” said Mr Ee.
