Kroll’s 2021 Anti-Bribery and Corruption Benchmarking (ABC) report revealed that 80% of senior risk professionals in Asia-Pacific acknowledged the inclusion of environmental, social and governance (ESG) in their ABC programs.
This is 50% more than risk professionals surveyed from Europe (58%), Latin America (54%) and the US and Canada (50%).
Key findings of the report
The survey of 200 senior risk executives in APAC, Europe, Latin America, and the U.S. and Canada also showed APAC risk professionals ranking climate mitigation as the top consideration in their ABC program, ranking higher than air and water pollution, human rights and abuses, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) and business ethics.
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Key findings of the report
- 90% of survey respondents believe their ABC risks will increase or stay the same compared to 2020
- 39% of global respondents say that their compliance program is very effective, a 12% drop from 51% in the first half of the year.
- 72% feel that the compliance function will take on increased responsibilities in 2022
- 62% of organizations have concerns regarding what might be on the regulatory horizon in the next 12 months, with the majority expecting a stricter and increased regulatory environment.
- Significant increase in the inclusion of environmental, social and governance (ESG) in ABC programs globally; APAC experienced the largest increase of 16% between January and August 2021 and the only region ranking climate change mitigation over diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)
- 52% of global respondents indicated that ESG creates more challenges than benefits for the compliance function, with primary drivers including a lack of standardization, lack of data and lack of transparency
Chief barriers
“Surveying respondents in the first and second half of the year enables us to better understand and evaluate the efficiency of ABC programs and benchmark the critical challenges to risk officers at regional and global levels,” said David Liu, Hong Kong-based regional managing director and member of the APAC Management Committee for risk advisory firm Kroll.
He added that the report reveals the broad inclusion of ESG in ABC programs particularly in Asia-Pacific, where many economies are developing and are highly inflicted by weather extremes and community displacements.
“Regulatory enforcement has also shown itself as a critical concern for risk officers in APAC. Drivers of this could include China’s anti-corruption campaign, sanctions regimes and how foreign corporations might deal with which regime to follow,” he continued.
