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August 12 2013

Global Firms Report Rise in Bribery and Corruption Risks

"A report by risk management provider, Kroll, has revealed that 43% of global businesses said their bribery and corruption risks have increased in the past two years.The '2013 Anti-Bribery and Corruption Benchmarking Report' found that only 8% of companies said their risks have fallen in the past two years, and that half of the businesses questioned expect their bribery and corruption risks to increase over the next year.It was revealed that 80% cited expansion into new markets as the most common reason for the expected rise, while 60% stated more rigorous enforcement of anti-bribery laws and 56% said the creation of anti-bribery laws in new jurisdictions was the main reason.Despite these risks, the report revealed that 18% said that they either have an anti-corruption policy but don't require employees to read it, or don't have one at all. Furthermore, 43% of firms surveyed said they only conduct a bribery and corruption risk assessment less than once a year, while 17% have never conducted a risk assessment. ""Given the proliferation of bribery and corruption risks, due diligence on customers, new acquisitions, and business partners is an absolute necessity,"" said Melvin Glapion, Managing Director at Kroll Advisory Solutions."