Emerging market countries have seen unbridled development over the last couple of years. They’ve transformed into economic powerhouses to accelerate global growth. High investor returns, rapid industrialization, multiple international trade agreements and pacts, substantial labor pools, job opportunities and untapped resources in these markets have made them frontrunners in generating business opportunities.
Corporate scandals in Singapore over the last two years put the spotlight on integrity. Incidences of fraud and corruption have serious financial and reputational consequences. Not surprisingly, boards now see anti-fraud and corruption as corporate priorities. More importantly, beyond compliance, companies must demonstrate that they are putting integrity firmly on the boardroom agenda.
This year’s Corruption Perception Index* (CPI) analyses perceived corruption levels in relation to crisis in democracy around the world and how both are intertwined. Corruption continues to be a significant obstacle to the economic growth of countries though they may have different levels of democracy – be it autocratic nations or full democracies.
In a recent incident of fraud unearthed at a multinational banking and financial services company in India, the internal auditor was arrested on charges of conspiring with other co-accused in deliberately failing to point out certain discrepancies. The National Company Law Tribunal added names of the internal auditors (present and former) as parties to the … More Internal auditor: Watchdog or bloodhound?
Have you wondered how search items on your browser history are presented to you, even after a few days, in the form of advertisements or sponsored content? The answer to this is “cookies”, or tiny text files that are downloaded on your device when it’s connected to the internet. Globally, data privacy, data protection and … More Data Privacy Day – control “cookies” before you consent
Global and Indian organizations have been under intense regulatory scrutiny on account of potential lapses in compliance or corporate governance, and an influx of fraud, bribery and corruption cases. Enforcement action has stepped with regulators such the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), UK’s Serious Fraud Office and Financial Services … More Unveiling fraud reporting trends in listed companies
India has witnessed a positive growth trajectory, becoming one of the fastest growing emerging economies in the world. The World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Report 2018 also shows that the ranking is up by 30 places (100 from 130) and made it to the top 100 nations list. Additionally, the government and the regulatory … More Combating fraud risks in a competitive environment
Emerging markets have experienced significant change and burgeoning development over the last five years, becoming economic powerhouses and stimulating global growth. However, changing regulations and increased enforcement are altering the risk landscape. Organizations must face these challenges head-on: while emerging markets offer immense promise and abundant opportunities, the ever-present risks of fraud, bribery and corruption … More Understanding risk vectors: an emerging markets perspective
India’s legal ecosystem has evolved steadily over the last many decades, bringing forth social, economic, criminal and commercial matters that demanded fair hearing, deliberation and result. The concept of “natural justice” or rule against bias can be deemed as one of the foundational elements of the global justice systems. The Indian constitution does not have … More Upholding the “principle of natural justice” in corporate India
Today, most emerging markets are battling volatility as a result of trade wars, inflation, fluctuations in currency and oil prices, fears around the stock market and geopolitical instability. Economic development continues to see an uptick but a sense of caution still prevails. The current risk scenario is almost a test of resilience for many global … More Rethink your ethics strategy: Int’l Fraud Awareness Week 2018
Corporate compliance has evolved considerably over the last few decades. Global regulations such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and UK Bribery Act continue to lead the way, along with guidance and enhanced cross border co-operation from the US Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). … More Evolving compliance programs and the ISO 37001 advantage
The global risk landscape has undergone a sea change over the last few decades. For businesses, the risks emanating from fraud can not only threaten the very existence of the organization but continue to increase in quantum and complexity. There has also been a considerable shift in the type of fraud perpetrated, from larceny and … More The evolution of fraud: then and now
India has seen significant progress over the past few years with regulatory reforms and increased enforcement. Recent legislation include the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code which seeks to resolve insolvencies in a strict time-bound manner, the Data (Privacy and Protection) Bill to bring strong data protection laws in India and the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act to … More Fostering a strong anti-graft regime through Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act
An influx of emerging technologies such as analytics, automation and artificial intelligence (including chatbots) has altered advertisers’ strategy. Digital mediums have surpassed traditional ones, forming a significant chunk of advertising budgets. As per an EY report, Reimaging India’s M&E sector, advertisers in India have shifted spends to digital, that contributes to 17% to the total … More Click fraud: a bane of contention in the digital ad ecosystem
Most multinational corporations tend to encounter bribery and corruption risks particularly when doing business in emerging markets. However, evolving legal systems and new or amendments to regulations are being rolled out to foster greater transparency. For instance, India recently passed amendments to the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act 2018, Vietnam’s … More Transforming anti-bribery frameworks with ISO 37001 standard
Financial institutions across the globe are under increased regulatory scrutiny to comply with anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing policies and procedures. In the past decade, they have witnessed significant enforcement actions and penalties for non-compliance with respect to money laundering and terrorist financing. Hence, regulations are being introduced and/or amended across regions to fight … More Overcoming customer due diligence challenges in financial institutions
Businesses today are operating in an era of dynamic models, digital innovation, rising regulations and enforcement. Today, the integrity of an organization has become an important driver and successful organizations should depend on their reputation for keeping promises, respecting laws and behaving ethically to maintain stakeholder trust.
Travel and expense fraud probably remains one of the oldest, overlooked and most pervasive types of white-collar crime. Unclear guidelines or low awareness of this fraud can impact corporates adversely, and result in billions of dollars of revenue loss each year.
The collection, preservation and analysis of information is existential to catch fraudsters and cyber criminals. In addition to paper files, digital data present in an individual’s company computer, laptop, mobile or any other handheld device can uncover a complex matrix of fraud using digital and computer forensics. This information can subsequently be presented before the … More Maintaining the sanctity of data in search and seizure operations
Over the years, Germany and India have emerged as strong trade partners due to mutual co-operation over foreign policy matters, investments, and common values on democracy and free trade. Cross border collaboration has deepened over time and in May 2017, Germany and India signed 18 MoUs in key areas such as defence manufacturing, trade, intelligence … More Enhancing compliance still a challenge for businesses in India and Germany
The world has come a long way from the archaic arcades to today’s virtual reality video games with 3D simulators. Power packed roadshows such as CES (Las Vegas) and E3 (Los Angeles) are constantly highlighting innovations in the global video gaming industry, with new launches and technologies for multiple platforms. The value of the global … More Is the video game industry getting played by piracy?
The last few years has seen a conspicuous rise in fraud and corruption cases across the globe. Governments and regulators alike have indicated that the commitment to combat growing corporate misconduct should be improved which would augur well for businesses worldwide. This further led to the introduction of numerous regulations, establishing enforcement agencies and actively … More Bolstering cross border enforcement through the US DOJ’s policy to address “piling on”
We live in a world of wide-ranging surveillance. Historically, surveillance has been expensive and difficult to comprehend. However today with technology, surveillance has advanced in leaps and bounds with its tentacles surrounding every aspect of the current virtual world, wherein everything is either collected, saved, analysed or searched over the internet. While technology has streamlined … More Data privacy in the age of digital transformation
Fraud poses a tremendous risk and threat to organizations of all types and sizes, acting as a roadblock in their journey toward rapid growth. Among the various kinds of fraud that corporates face today, occupational fraud is likely the largest and most prevalent. To understand how occupational fraud is committed, detected, who commits it and … More Occupational fraud continues to escalate – ACFE Report 2018
Increased enforcement action, changing regulations and adoption of new technologies has transformed the risk landscape, leading to increased vulnerabilities. EY’s 15th Global Fraud Survey 2018, Integrity in the spotlight – The future of compliance stated that despite rising global enforcement, fraud and corruption continue to be one of the greatest threats to businesses worldwide. While … More Fraud, bribery and corruption continues to be a global threat: EY Global Fraud Survey
A fair competition benefits everyone, including businesses, consumers and the economy as a whole. The Competition Act, 2002, protects the process of competition in an increasingly innovative and globalized economy. It aims to safeguard the interests of the consumers and ascertain freedom of trade carried on by other players in the market. This is done … More Understanding competition law compliance in corporate India
The global landscape has been continuously evolving, coupled with rising geopolitical concerns, market volatility and cyber-attacks. There has also been a significant rise in enforcement, highlighted by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act unit receiving 30 voluntary disclosures when the pilot program was in effect during the 18 months, vis-a-vis 18 cases in the previous period. … More Gauging the role of Forensic Data Analytics in an era of digital transformation
The auto industry is undergoing rapid changes, operating in an increasingly complex and dynamic global landscape. There is a heightened focus on sustainability and innovation, resulting in auto companies forging strategic partnerships with stakeholders (employees, investors, vendors, sub-contractors and peer groups) based on mutual goals.
The annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) by Transparency International (TI) ranks countries and territories by their perceived levels of corruption and scores them on a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 means highly corrupt and 100 denotes being very clean. 2017 marked its 25th anniversary, and this year’s index analyzed perceived corruption levels with … More Corruption is still a significant obstacle for growth
There has been an increased awareness among consumers around life insurance products in India. That said, the sector continues to rely heavily on a “push-sale” methodology, thus leading to increased financial crime vulnerabilities.
The Indian information technology and technology enabled services (IT-ITeS) industry continues to benefit significantly with an uptick in private equity investments. According to a report by Venture Intelligence, private equity investments in the sector rose in 2017, accounting for 46% of the investment value and growing by 140% to $11.4 billion. Today, the IT-ITeS sector … More IT-ITeS sector – Evolving through fraud risks and governance challenges
Globally, enforcement has seen an upward trend in recent times, particularly in fraud, bribery and corruption related cases. Developed markets with strict regulations and enforcement are leading the way here, endorsing cross border collaboration and the benefits of voluntary disclosures to deter penalties. Driven by the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), many companies have … More Assessing the implication of voluntary disclosures under the FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy
Digital transformation has been a key enabler for accelerated business growth in India Inc. However, it has also augmented risks related to data protection, data privacy and cybercrime. EY’s Global Forensic Data Analytics Survey 2018 titled ‘How can you disrupt risk in an era of digital transformation?’ has underlined that organizations should harness the power … More Advanced Forensic Data Analytics instrumental to address data protection, privacy risks
The recent cyber-attacks inflicted by ransomware “WannaCry” and “Petya” impacted companies worldwide and across a broad range of sectors, emphasizing the growing and ever-present cyber threat that businesses are facing.
In a multi-jurisdictional and cross border environment, it is imperative for nations across the globe to strengthen their stance on anti-corruption by improved regulations to mitigate risks. In line with this, France enacted the amended SAPIN II law to combat bribery and corruption in mid-2017. The Act aims at boosting France’s competitiveness in matters related … More Demystifying the implications of France’s SAPIN II for emerging markets
Over the years, globalization has liberalized trade significantly, leading to a positive effect on the world economy. While protectionism is not a new trend, it is somewhat surprising to note that most countries do not truly practice free trade – there are always restrictions to some extent in the movement of goods and services in … More The impact of protectionism
For as long as there has been business, there has been fraud. However, the level of sophistication and magnitude of fraud perpetration has evolved considerably over the last decade even as petty corruption continues to occur in less conspicuous manners. Of the many forms that fraud can take, insider and third-party threats such as management … More Financial goals and ethical conduct: not a trade-off
The concept of robotics has been in existence for a long time, with Egyptians using automated water clocks to strike the hour bell and hydraulically operated statues that could gesture and speak in 400 BC. Subsequently, there have been many such instances of robotics in the history of mankind. The first modern-day Industrial Revolution dates … More Robotics and automation: threats and opportunities
Increased global trade, foreign direct investment, greater economic potential, large consumer base, young working population, strong domestic consumption and fluctuations in the US dollar have led to improvements in the performance of emerging markets, including India. These markets offer attractive investment opportunities with portfolio diversification, showcasing the potential for strong commercial ties with the rest … More Driving cognizance on corruption risks through greater enforcement – Int’l Anti-Corruption Day 2017
India’s business landscape remains buoyant, highlighted by improved ranking (100) in World Bank’s recently released Ease of Doing Business Report 2018. The market has seen a gradual through significant transformation on multiple fronts including new domestic and global reforms and the ongoing war against unethical practices. While, fraud, bribery and corruption remain endemic in emerging … More Strengthening governance and ethics this Int’l Fraud Awareness Week 2017
The ‘workplace of the future’ has reached its inflection point with the proliferation and promise of new age technologies. For the banking and financial services sector, early technology adoption has been beneficial and many organizations are already taking calculated steps to fuel digital transformation through the Internet of Things, cloud, deep analytics, robotics, cognitive tools … More Redefining AML compliance in banking through robotics
The business landscape in India has undergone a significant change in terms of increasing flow of foreign investments, contribution to the global economy, exponential growth of startups and technological advancements. As per the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business report 2018, India jumped up by 30 points, securing a spot in the top 100 countries … More Combating corruption through robust compliance procedures – the Vigilance Awareness Week
Fraud, corruption and corporate misconduct has seen a spike worldwide in recent times. For rapidly growing economies, transparency and ease of doing business are pivotal to attracting investments. According to the Economic Survey of India 2017 by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), India is now the fastest-growing G20 economy. From a business … More Turbocharging ethical growth through greater board guidance
Exchanging gifts during festivals and celebratory occasions has become a norm in many cultures over time. With the festival of lights just around the corner, ornate boxes of sweets and dry fruits can often be seen delivered across the board. Traditionally, Diwali gifts as a token of goodwill and revelry are accepted by many but … More Diwali Gifts: Where to draw the line
Organizations across the globe have been using benchmarking data to evaluate their performance, structure and operations as compared to those of their peers. Thus, benchmarking grew into a leading industry practice to assess performance, proficiently use resources, detect knowledge gaps and identify areas for improvement. To understand trends among internal fraud investigation professionals, The Association … More Building robust fraud investigation teams through benchmarking
Increased globalization has resulted in businesses expanding their footprint across the world. To drive efficiency, most organizations tend to outsource non-core activities to external or third parties. While the growing network of third parties can help organizations sustain in a challenging environment, it has also brought with it risks such as bribery and corruption, Intellectual … More Managing third party risks through enhanced due diligence
The world is dominated by the internet revolution, digital disruption, cross border transactions and consumerization today. Information and data exchange is rapid and occurring real time. Consequentially, the security concerns traversing through boundaries are bringing data protection and privacy issues, breaches and leakage of confidential information into the spotlight.
In a year characterized by geopolitical risk, economic uncertainty and increased regulatory intensity, the findings of our 2017 Asia-Pacific Fraud Survey are a cause for concern: over half of close to 1,700 respondents across sectors believed that ethical standards have not improved in their local business operations.
Increased consumer awareness and regulatory focus have transformed India’s approach to food safety. Changing reforms continue to play an important role in shaping the industry to ascertain the procurement, provision and production of food products in order to meet the highest standards of safety and hygiene.
