Vanessa Hans
27
Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention has been a major milestone in the fight against corruption. As we reflect on that achievement and look ahead, it is evident that companies are now navigating an increasingly complex regulatory landscape.
Bribery has been prohibited under the laws of most countries for over two decades. Many of those countries have also introduced corporate criminal liability for corruption. However, in the case of environmental and social corporate responsibility, soft laws have prevailed as the guiding instrument until recently.
The pressure on companies to address sustainability-related topics is increasing as, similar to the regulatory developments in the field of bribery, the regulatory landscape is shifting away from soft law to mandatory regulations.
1. A complementary approach that acknowledges specificities The definition of a governance structure, which adequately takes into account sustainability and broader environmental, social and governance( ESG) topics, is an ongoing challenge for most companies. A siloed approach still prevails which typically leads to limited exchanges of information between the anti-corruption compliance functions and the ESG functions.
While there might be potential synergies between the broader sustainability agenda and anti-corruption compliance, they remain two distinct topics. These specificities need to be acknowledged with subject matter expertise when necessary. Building on the Basel Institute ongoing work on synergies between business and human rights and anti-corruption compliance, thematic expertise can ensure that practices improve over time, and internal coordination can be leveraged into broader risk management processes, but also treated discretely when necessary.