EMEA

Managing third parties has become increasingly complex as more nations follow the United States’ charge against foreign bribery and other forms of corporate misconduct, creating their own strong anti-bribery laws and ambitious enforcement regimes. In Europe, one country after another has modernised its anti-bribery posture in recent years to align at least roughly (if not precisely) with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. More European countries will follow, and the rest of the world will follow after that.

Corporate ethics and compliance officers at global corporations must now design their third party compliance programmes to handle the implications of this shift. For example, companies will need to juggle parallel investigations as multiple countries coordinate their inquiries into the same misconduct. Risk assessments will need to encompass more risks. Policies and training will need to be sharper, and apply to more people of different backgrounds.

Our whitepaper explores the proliferation of anti-bribery laws, particularly in Europe; what role an effective compliance programme can play in reducing liability when bribery allegations are at hand; and the capabilities that programme will need to have, if the company wants to take full advantage of regulators’ cooperation policies and reduce enforcement risk.