Kroll: World’s biggest corporates hit hardest by illicit activity despite bolstering defences

• 57%
  of respondents at US$15+ billion turnover companies reported “very significant”
  impacts of corruption and illicit activity  
• Proactive
  data analytics to mitigate risks employed by nearly all respondents (86%)
• Almost
  a third (29%) of respondents in China rank employees’ actions as the top threat
  related to bribery and corruption risk, the highest percentage of all countries
  surveyed

HONG KONG SAR – Media
OutReach – 14 September 2021 – Kroll, the world’s premier provider of services and digital
products related to governance, risk and transparency, today revealed that the
world’s biggest companies were feeling the greatest impact of corruption and illicit
activity in 2020.

Kroll’s
Global Fraud and Risk Report shows that 57% of respondents at companies
with a turnover of more than US$15 billion reported a very significant impact of
illicit activity, such as fraud, corruption and money laundering on their
organisation, with a further quarter (25%) describing the impact as somewhat significant.

This
trend continued for firms with an annual revenue of between US$10 billion –US$15
billion, with 48% of respondents saying their organisation had been very
significantly impacted and 44% reporting the impact was somewhat significant.

The survey
highlighted that corporates were placing an increased focus on proactive
measures to manage bribery and corruption risk, including enterprise-wide risk
assessments (82%) and the use of proactive data analytics (86%).

Furthermore,
nearly three quarters (72%) said bribery and corruption issues were being given
sufficient board-level attention and investment. However, despite these
defences being employed, 82% overall still felt corruption and illicit activity
were having a significant impact on their organisation.

Respondents in China were more concerned about
internal and external bribery and corruption risks compared to other regions
surveyed. More than a third of respondents (34%) cited weaknesses in
record-keeping as their top concern, higher than the global average of 31%.
Employees’ actions was second on the list at 29%, again above the global
average (23%). Almost four in 10 (37%) respondents in China cited lack of
visibility over third parties as their top concern related to bribery and
corruption, also greater than the global average (46%).

Violet Ho,
Senior Managing Director and Head of Greater China, Forensic Investigations and
Intelligence, said:

“It has
been a challenging year for corporates, with organizations around the world
facing threats from all angles, including increasingly complex supply chains
and the impact of the global pandemic. It’s encouraging to see that companies
in China and other regions are strengthening defences with proactive measures
such as data analytics and that bribery and corruption risk is on the boardroom
agenda, but the findings from this year’s report leave us with an important
question: Why are bribery and corruption threats persisting and still having
such a big impact?

Our survey
highlighted that organizations are feeling vulnerable to both internal and
external threats such as poor record keeping and lack of visibility of third
parties. The human factor is also a key component – even the best compliance
programs can be ineffective if the appropriate education, training, company
culture and tone from the top aren’t employed.”

Survey
Methodology

For the 2021 Global
Fraud and Risk Report, Kroll conducted an online survey of 1,336 senior
decision-makers for risk strategy, including general counsel, chief compliance
officers, chief finance officers and CEOs at corporates. Sixty percent of the
organisations have annual revenues of $250 million or more, and 34% have annual
revenues of more than $1 billion. Survey respondents were drawn from the 17
countries and regions featured on the global risk map. The survey was conducted
in March 2021.