News & Events

Future Events

UK Anti-Corruption Forum Workshop

“Corporate Anti-Corruption Actions”

Friday 17th October 2008: 09.00 to 16.00

Venue: Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 1 Birdcage Walk, Westminster, London, SW1
(020 7973 1253)

The UK Anti-Corruption Forum will hold a one day anti-corruption Workshop in London on 17th October 2008 entitled “Corporate Anti-Corruption Actions”. The Workshop will be divided into four consecutive sessions:

1. Gifts, hospitality and facilitation payments;
2. Due diligence;
3. Internal monitoring and whistle blowing;
4. Crisis management.

Each session will commence with a panel discussion on the topic, led by senior and experienced industry representatives. The topic will then be thrown open for floor discussion. The purpose of the Workshop will be to exchange ideas on how best to deal at corporate level with some of the key challenges in this area. The Workshop will be held under the Chatham House Rule to enable free exchange of ideas and experiences. The following topics will be covered:

Gifts and hospitality

  • When do gifts and hospitality become bribes?
  • What limits should be put on gifts and hospitality?
  • How should gifts and hospitability be controlled and recorded?

Facilitation payments

  • How can you avoid making facilitation payments, and still get the required service?
  • How to record and account for facilitation payments?
  • Should facilitation payments be criminal offences?

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Due Diligence

  • Why is due diligence necessary to prevent corruption?
  • What due diligence should be undertaken before:
    • Working in a new country
    • Working with a new client
    • Working with a new business partner (consortium or joint venture partner, contractor, consultant, sub-contractor, agent)
    • Taking on a new employee

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Internal monitoring

  • What monitoring systems should you put in place in your company to prevent/uncover corruption?

Whistle-blowing

  • What reporting systems should a company put in place?
  • How does a company deal with reports?

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Crisis management

  • What do you do if you discover corruption:
    • Perpetrated by a member of your organisation
    • Perpetrated against your organisation
    • On a project you are involved in, but where the corruption does not affect you?

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Download programme and application form

Past Events

UK Anti-Corruption Forum Conference

“Preventing Corruption in Infrastructure”

London – 2nd October 2007

The Forum held an international anti-corruption conference in London on 2nd October 2007, entitled “Preventing Corruption in Infrastructure”.  It was attended by over 120 participants from 10 countries.

The conference focused on practical aspects of corruption prevention, and included senior speakers from the UK and Tanzanian Governments, contractors, consultants, professional institutions, the Beijing and London Olympics, the World Bank and EU Commission, and UK prosecution authorities.

The conference was held under the Chatham House Rule, which allowed all participants to speak freely. Therefore, transcripts have not been published, and speakers cannot be attributed.

However, key points highlighted at the conference by some of the speakers and/or during the discussion sessions were as follows:

  • Successful anti-corruption action requires courage, leadership and example from the top
  • Corruption prevention in the infrastructure sector will only be effective if all participants take action, including governments, project owners, funders, contractors and consulting engineers.
  • Companies working in the international infrastructure sector are increasingly taking a firm stand against corruption. This often results in companies withdrawing from corrupt markets or sectors, leaving these markets and sectors potentially exposed to corrupt or less able companies.
  • The perception of many companies working in the infrastructure sector is that governments and funders are not taking sufficiently active steps to ensure that infrastructure funding is being properly spent.
  • Companies which have now introduced anti-corruption policies may have problems in relation to projects awarded many years ago when corruption prevention was not regarded as an issue in the same way as it is now.
    There was discussion on the possibility of an amnesty for past acts, as long as a company could establish that it had now committed to anti-corruption policies. It was suggested that only if companies could be free of the risk of prosecution and debarment for past activities could they openly and transparently deal with the issues of corruption going forward.
  • There were some successes in corruption prevention on major infrastructure projects.  Examples are the Beijing Olympic Games and the Chung Jun Expressway in China, where in both cases there was a significant anti-corruption focus throughout the project cycle on fair competition, raising awareness, supervision and reporting.
  • Business associations and professional institutions can play a major role by encouraging change, raising awareness and implementing disciplinary procedures.
  • The prevention of corruption should have equal standing with health and safety in the requirements for professional status, and in continuing professional development.
  • The UK prosecution authorities have increased their resources available to deal with allegations of overseas bribery, and that many cases are currently under investigation.

View conference programme

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