Dear TIPS Member,
Open Business - a new roadmap to better corporate practice
TI-UK has released Open Business, a report that sets a new bar for disclosures in anti-corruption and governance and provides an aspirational but achievable roadmap to better corporate practice. The report is informed by 12 months’ research, interviews with compliance professionals and discussions with global institutional investors. A number of TIPS members attended the launch of this report on 12 March 2020, at which an experienced and engaging panel reflected on some of the report’s key findings. Among other things, the report:
Demonstrates the business case for corporate governance and anti-corruption transparency;
Identifies and provides guidance and principles on disclosure across five key areas that are at high-risk of corporate corruption; and
Offers responses to some of the challenges that might inhibit companies from disclosing information (e.g. data privacy considerations).
Please see below the TIPS Newsletter for March 2020. We look forward to seeing you soon.
- the TIPS team
1. Upcoming Events
The Bribery Act Campaign: the inside story and a look at the future | 8 Apr 2020 | 10-11am
To mark the 10th anniversary of the passing of the UK Bribery Act, Robert Barrington, Professor of Anti-Corruption Practice at the University of Sussex, will tell the inside story of this hard-fought campaign. Please note this event will now take place as a webinar. Please register here.
Postponed Events
Please note that the following events have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is hoped that they will be rescheduled to later in the year.
TIPS Networking Drinks | Originally scheduled for 30 March 2020, Tena Prelec (Oxford University) and Tom Mayne (University of Exeter) will present their ongoing research on “UK real estate and anti-money laundering (AML) controls: are they strong enough?" at a later date.
Crypto & Crime | Panel Discussion | 3 Temple Gardens is planning to rescheduled its panel discussion on Crypto and Crime, originally scheduled for 2 April 2020. New details will be circulated in due course.
2. Recent TIPS Events
TIPS Debate at KCL | Summary
Resolved: "Western countries should not fine multinationals for breaches of western anti-corruption legislation when those breaches are part of the normal course of business abroad."
On 10 March 2020, students at King's College London debated this motion following an introduction to the TIPS Network and a discussion of other anti-corruption topics led by James Ford and Adam Bakran. There was fantastic engagement from more than 20 students – it was an excellent opportunity to promote the work of TI-UK to a new audience!
TI-UK Open Business Launch | Summary
Open Business calls on companies inter alia to… “improve meaningful disclosures around beneficial ownership and publicly advocate to governments to adopt data standards on beneficial ownership transparency.”
On 12 March 2020, a number of TIPS members attended the launch of TI-UK’s Business Integrity team’s flagship 2019/20 report Open Business. Daniel Bruce, CEO of TI-UK gave opening remarks before a distinguished panel with speakers from (inter alia) the finance, energy and mining sectors discussed how the report’s findings might impact companies in practice.
3. TIPS Advocacy: One Minute Reads
A number of new One Minute Reads have been uploaded to the TIPS website. Please do click the link to read more – perfect for your morning/evening WFH coffee break!
As ever, if you want to draft/share any One Minute Reads on the TIPS website or have any questions about this initiative, please contact Alex Sidossis, TIPS Advocacy Lead, at asidossis@4-5.co.uk.
4. Items of Interest
TRACE: Bribery enforcement down in 2019. Trace International has published its latest Global Enforcement Report. See here.
Transparency: what next? Five key areas for corporate transparency. See TI-UK blogpost here.
OPBAS publishes report on progress and themes from 2019. The FCA’s Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision has released its latest report on progress made in tackling money laundering over the past year. See here.
SFO on rack after Barclays blow. The acquittal of former Barclays executives was another setback for the Serious Fraud Office over its failure to secure high-profile convictions. See here.
UK take fight to Kazakstan’s wealthy elite over unexplained “billionnaires’ row” mansion. A mansion owned by Nurali Aliyev, the grandson of Kazakhstan’s former President Nursultan Nazarbayev has been frozen by the High Court pursuant to an unexplained wealth order. See here.
EBF presents recommendations on fighting dirty money in EU. The European Banking Federation has published a blueprint report recommending priorities needed to fight money laundering within the EU. See here.
Taboo or not taboo, why don’t we talk about corruption in global health. See TI-Health blogpost here.