We were proud Platinum sponsors of the Anti-Money Laundering Professionals (AMLP) 7th Annual Anti-Bribery & Corruption Event in London.
The two-day event, held on 15th/16th November, brought together 200 anti-bribery specialists from across the UK, Europe and further afield to hear the latest thoughts in enforcement, strategy and culture.
There were some informative sessions from the Home Office, Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), and particularly lively sessions around some practicalities of setting a positive culture within private sector organisations. Speakers also included Skillcast clients David Morris of Royal Mail Group and Andrew Hayward of Subsea7 who talked about innovations in their own workforce.
Anti-corruption forum - Day one
Day one included some insightful discussions around the G20/B20 anti-corruption agenda under the Argentinian presidency and what’s next for UK anti-corruption strategies.
Of particular note was a lively and impassioned session from several industry leaders, each highlighting their forward-leaning ABC strategy that goes beyond compliance. They each spoke about the importance of culture and how to foster a solid ethical working environment with strong leadership and a thoughtful, non-threatening environment to openly discuss concerns and use behavioural science to help to guide positive actions. It was inspirational to hear a future of Compliance 2.0 helping to foster strong ethical organisations.
European Commission Policy Officer, Elisa Sason, also gave an interesting talk about the revolutionary steps the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) are making in the fight against fraud, corruption and financial crime.
Anti-corruption forum - Day two
Day two saw more insights from the likes of Stanley Ude from Anti-Corruption & Financial Crimes at Interpol, who gave a powerful overview of the Global Bribery & Corruption Risk Map.
There was a thought-provoking discussion around the challenges of balancing GDPR and ABC compliance, and we were given an interesting summary of the increasing role of compliance technologies, specifically around AI, in managing anti-corruption.
One highlight was the session on increasing the effectiveness of ABC training and education, co-led by Skillcast client David Morris of Royal Mail Group. Skillcast have partnered with Royal Mail Group over the last five years to help cultivate a culture of compliance, so we were excited to hear David Morris take part in a truly thought-provoking discussion with Gaon Hart of HSBC and Ruth Steinholz of ArreteWork about what drives organisations toward an ethical culture. Ruth made some salient points around empowering the workforce with peer-level ethics ambassadors. David put forward the case that innovation can occur in a regulated environment, and described how their training has evolved from traditional format gaming to tracking trends in strengths and weaknesses against employee confidence in their decisions to help better identify and manage risk.
Key takeaways from the Anti-corruption forum
There were many exciting takeaways from the event. Perhaps most key is that culture is influenced in many ways, through engagement of peers and managers as well as enhanced individual engagement in the workplace, from systems, behaviour and enlightened training.
A goal of Compliance 2.0 was also discussed, alongside the importance of creating ethical organisations that millennials will love to work for. Even though policies are important, culture comes first, and we must create an environment where people can discuss ethical dilemmas without fear. Finally, we learned how important behavioural science can be in helping to verify values and support training initiatives.
Want to learn more about anti-bribery compliance?
We have created a comprehensive bribery & corruption roadmap to help you navigate the compliance landscape, supported by several financial crime prevention courses in our Compliance Essentials Library.
Written by: Catriona Razic
Catriona Razic is a co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer at Skillcast. She advises global firms on their compliance communication strategy - working directly with them to deliver successful outcomes for their compliance and learning initiatives. Catriona holds a degree in Psychology and Economics.
