Catalyzing Corporate Commitment to Combating Corruption

Abstract

This article considers what policy reforms may help catalyze corporate commitment to combating corruption. The starting point for this discussion is a voluntary, corporate principles approach to self-regulation. Such an approach should seek to encourage corporations to implement effective compliance and ethics programs and to disclose information related to their anti-corruption activities to relevant stakeholders. Policy reforms discussed in this article that have the potential to support these goals, and are in need of further research and discussion, include amnesty programs for corporations that self-disclose corrupt payments, the use of corporate monitors in the enforcement of anti-corruption laws, sustainability reporting indicators related to bribery, the prohibition of all forms of corruption (including private-to-private corruption and facilitation payments), and the implementation of multi-stakeholder initiatives to support a corporate principles approach.

Keywords: Bribery, Corporate Monitors, Corruption, Facilitation Payments, Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives, Private-to-Private Corruption, Sustainability Reporting