18th International Anti-Corruption Conference

International anti-corruption standards and domestic anti-bribery laws with extra-territorial reach have highlighted the crucial importance to the private sector of proactively confronting and combating corruption. Public expectations for business to be conducted fairly and with integrity, and for governments to be transparent about public commercial deals, are rising worldwide in the face of repeated corporate corruption scandals and state capture by economic elites.

Private entities represent not only the victims but also the perpetrators of corruption. Dealing with this multi-faceted problem therefore requires a broad range of often complementary anti-corruption measures both on the individual and collective levels, as well as in terms of dealings with public actors and investors. On the corporate level, implementing integrity and compliance programmes is an important step towards preventing corruption. Measures such as anti-corruption due diligence on third parties and the supply chain can help to strengthen integrity in the wider business environment. Collective Action can enable multiple companies to work together and with other actors, including civil society. Interactions with the public sector are also crucial: for example, tackling corruption in large scale investment projects requires multiple actions by governments and the private sector to enable competition and transparency to flourish so that public procurement processes are not tainted by corruption. The potential consequences of engagement by each one of these actors increases exponentially when individual actions are connected and reinforced through collaboration with other state and non-state groups.

This workshop will therefore bring together a panel of experts and practitioners to share their experiences, challenges and lessons learned in order to explore the pathways to strengthening private sector integrity.