Corruption, unfortunately, is still happening all over the world. However, those who take part in it can expect a large fine or a long prison sentence. Obviously, you want to protect your organization and employees against this. In this blog we will discuss how you can use data to protect your organization against the different types of corruption.
Why we want to fight corruption
First of all, corruption, as well as involvement in it, is a criminal offence in the EU. This is also the main reason why you should not want to participate in it. But there are more than reasons why you, as an organization, would not want to have anything to do with corruption. For example:
- Bribes distort fair competition and transparency in business;
- Participating in corruption damages the integrity of your organization, which discourages other business partners and investors from doing business with you;
- It is one of the main funding sources of terrorism;
- Enabling corruption causes financial and reputational damage to the organizations involved.
How can you detect corruption?
Not participating in corruption yourself is one thing. But how do you ensure that you do not do business with other organizations that are involved in this? For example, if you do business with a manufacturer that is linked to this, it could end up in the news and drag your good name through the mud. To fully protect your organization it is essential to select your business partners, such as suppliers, customers, sponsors and investors very carefully. Every third party you do business with or will do business with should be screened in advance.
Here's how data helps to fight bribery and corruption
You can screen a business relationship on various aspects. Altares collects company data and offers insight into a variety of indicators and events. You could think of strong turnover growth, negative press or sanctions. Other examples are a company that changes address multiple times in a short period of time or a director who has been in charge of several companies in a few months. On their own, these events may not be a huge deal. By putting these events together, Altares is able to predict whether an activity, a company or a country may be exposed to corruption. This helps you to make better choices when doing (international) business.
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