Business Crime Quarterly Winter 2017/2018

The level of global financial crime has never been higher, if two recent surveys are to be believed. From large scale public sector corruption to cybercrime, consumer fraud and misconduct committed by employees against their own businesses, financial wrongdoing continues to be a drain on corporate resources. Governments across the globe are attempting to stay one step ahead of the criminals with new measures to tackle corruption, such as unexplained wealth orders and the opening up of registers of beneficial ownership in the UK, new sanctions for companies found liable for financial wrongdoing in Germany and a significant tightening of anti-bribery legislation in Australia.

The introduction of deferred prosecution agreements in Singapore and the proposals for such a measure in Australia are aimed at encouraging self-reporting of wrongdoing and guiding internal policies and best practice. But companies must also help themselves. Nearly a quarter of businesses surveyed recently by accountants PwC said they had no formal business ethics and compliance programme in place, despite nearly half reporting that their business had suffered fraud in the previous two years.

In this edition of Business Crime Quarterly we consider Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index, which highlights the link between the lack of protection for civil society and corruption. We note the EU’s agreement to a package of proposals to tackle money laundering and organised crime, report on the latest investigations and enforcement measures against both companies and individuals in Hong Kong and the UK, and consider changes to enforcement policy in the US.

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