Many executives at global companies prefer to keep a lid on incidents of corruption uncovered in their organizations, according to a new survey.
Approximately 41 percent of the 329 executives surveyed around the world by Deloitte prefer to conduct their own internal investigations of any significant incident of corruption uncovered in their organizations, or wait to see if there are any consequences, rather than report the incident voluntarily to authorities. “While they are serious about dealing with corruption, many companies still foster a culture that views these incidents as a private matter, so they continue to balk at airing ‘dirty laundry’ in public,” said Ed Rial, leader of Deloitte’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Consulting practice, in a statement.
About 93 percent of those surveyed believe that an internal investigation should be conducted if a significant incident of corruption is uncovered, while 75 percent support zero-tolerance anti-corruption policies with strong disciplinary measures, including firing those responsible for corrupt acts.
The study also revealed the increasing role of internal audit in anti-corruption compliance. When asked to select up to three sources that would likely lead to changes in the respondents’ organizations, advice from internal auditors was identified by 57 percent of respondents as most likely to lead to changes in an anti-corruption program, while compliance and internal audits were selected by 80 percent of respondents as one of the best ways to measure a program's effectiveness.
In addition, 47 percent of those surveyed said that integrating an anti-corruption program into their internal audit system would make detection and prevention of corruption easier, with an additional 33 percent indicating that it is already integrated.
