“Corruption is recognized to be one of the world’s greatest challenges. It is a major hindrance to sustainable development, with a disproportionate impact on poor communities and is corrosive on the very fabric of society.”
UN Global Compact 
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Public sector
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Private sector
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 "The impact on the private sector is also considerable—[corruption] impedes economic growth, distorts competition and represents serious legal and reputational risks.”
UN Global Compact |
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Impacts of corruption |
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- Undermines social, economic, and environmental development
- Deters foreign direct investment
- Contributes to lower quality and higher costs of goods and services
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- Creates unfair competitive environment
- Limits business opportunities
- Increases risks and costs of doing business in certain markets
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| Guiding frameworks to combat corruption |
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- OECD Anti-Bribery Convention
- United Nations Convention against Corruption
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- UN Global Compact
- Transparency International’s Business Principles for Countering Bribery
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| Actions taken to reduce corruption |
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- Criminalizing acts of corruption
- Collaborating with other governments to prevent transnational corruption
- Creating anticorruption bodies, such as a supreme audit board or specialized enforcement agencies
- Creating effective legal systems for seizing, freezing, and confiscating the assets or proceeds of a crime
- Developing transparency in government operations and public procurement and establishing enforceable codes of conduct for government officials
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- Issuing clear company policies on what constitutes unacceptable behavior and enforcing the prescribed consequences
- Thoroughly and regularly training employees to address the enforcement of international anticorruption standards
- Routinely conducting due diligence on third parties, such as agents, sales consultants, distributors, and vendors
- Performing due diligence on business partners, personnel, and contracts
- Performing frequent field tests to determine whether employees understand company policies and testing the adequacy of existing programs and controls
- Streamlining and integrating payment systems to easily see where, why, and how much money is being spent
- Regularly testing payment systems and controls to ensure all expenditures are accounted for
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| Benefits derived from an anticorruption focus |
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- Contributions to economic and social development
- Signals of real commitment to citizens and the international community
- Creation of a more level playing field for businesses evaluating opportunities in the market
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- Protection—and enhancement—of reputation and brand value
- Mitigation of risk in new market activity, vendor relationships, and procurement efforts
- Operating within anticorruption and antibribery laws and regulations
- Safeguarding of assets, revenues, and investments
- Improvement of operational efficiency and lowering of costs
- Minimizing of sanctions and operational impact should an incident occur
- Increase in competitive advantage with those organizations, governments, and consumers that want to do business with companies of the highest integrity
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