Anna Stransky
Publications and news by Anna Stransky.
Publications
Working Paper 48: A collaborative approach to improve business integrity in ASEAN: Case studies of anticorruption Collective Action in the region
This working paper provides an overview and analysis of anti-corruption Collective Action case studies in the ASEAN region. It builds on the 2014 paper: Collective Action against Corruption: Business and Anti-Corruption Initiatives in ASEAN, which was published by the ASEAN CSR Network and the Asian Institute of Management.
This 2023 paper reviews the initiatives featured in the 2014 paper and highlights new initiatives that have emerged in the region since then. It covers:
- Indonesia: Indonesia Business Links
- Malaysia: Corporate Integrity System Malaysia
- Philippines: Integrity Initiative and project SHINE
- Thailand: Collective Action Against Corruption
- Thailand: Anti-Corruption Organization of Thailand
- Vietnam: Vietnam Chamber of Commerce & Industry and its Office for Business
The analysis identifies several success factors, while noting that Collective Action is a flexible approach that can and must be tailored to different contexts.
About this Working Paper
The authors would like to thank the Asian Institute of Management and the representatives of the initiatives featured in this paper for their time and contributions.
This paper is made possible through the support of the Siemens Integrity Initiative.
The publication is part of the Basel Institute on Governance Working Paper Series, ISSN: 2624-9650. You may share or republish the Working Paper under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
Suggested citation: Binder, Lucie, Vanessa Hans, and Anna Stransky. 2023. ‘A collaborative approach to improve business integrity in ASEAN: Case studies of anti-corruption Collective Action in the region.’ Working Paper 48, Basel Institute on Governance. Available at: https://baselgovernance.org/publications/wp48.
News and blog
Stronger together: the Collective Action community as a beacon for business integrity
In these times of geopolitical instability and changing government priorities, business integrity risks being sidelined – just when it’s needed most. Strong compliance programmes and ethical business environments are essential for navigating volatility, maintaining trust and ensuring resilience. And anti-corruption Collective Action has proven to be an effective, efficient way to both strengthen compliance and contribute to fair market conditions. It does this by bringing together the private sector with other stakeholders from government and civil society in a sustained, trust-based collaboration. Against this backdrop, the Basel Institute on Governance brought together over 30 practitioners from around the world for the 2025 Collective Action Peer Learning Workshop. Across three virtual sessions from 2 to 4 June, they reflected on the past, present and future of this tried-and-tested approach. Participants included representatives of organisations funded by the Siemens Integrity Initiative or part of the Basel Institute’s Collective Action Mentoring Programme. All are part of a growing global “community of practice” advancing integrity through Collective Action. The takeaways below show the depth and diversity of experience of the members and how much they can contribute to raising standards of integrity and fair business around the world. The power of data for consensus and buy-in The first session took stock of lessons learned over the past decade. Martin Benderson and Ignacio Kantor of the Maritime Anti-Corruption Network MACN demonstrated how data, when collected consistently and used strategically, can empower stakeholders and drive reform. MACN’s anonymous incident reporting system and Global Port Integrity Platform now cover more than 1,300 ports, revealing patterns of corruption that help members, governments and local actors take targeted action. Martin highlighted: Data gives authority and can be instrumental in convincing governments and other stakeholders to recognise the challenge and take action. Participants agreed: data doesn’t need to be perfect. What’s essential is building simple, sustainable collection methods. Stakeholders should also be involved in interpreting results to ensure the data “reflects lived realities and not just metrics”. Other takeaways included the importance of trust, the value of strong alliances and the patience required to build them. One participant shared: Building trust among diverse stakeholders is the most crucial lesson I’ve learned, as it forms the foundation for any successful Collective Action initiative. Another added: “The building of a collective consensus takes time, but it’s rewarding”. Participants agreed that it is crucial to focus on realistic, well-designed goals and learn from peers when challenges arise: Don’t reinvent the wheel. Seek similar projects, challenges or industries and learn from them. What we can learn from corrupt networks In the second session, the Basel Institute’s Dr Claudia Baez Camargo explained how research on corrupt networks see, for example, this Quick Guide, Policy Brief or Case Studies in East Africa can be applied to make Collective Action initiatives more effective. Corrupt networks of businesspeople and elites are often formed to solve a challenge or pursue a collective goal. These range from easing access to public services to obtaining business opportunities or helping a business to run smoothly. Collective Action initiatives could focus on solving some of those goals, for example by finding transparent ways to increase business opportunities for all, or collectively working with government to design smarter regulations. There are also important lessons to be learned about the different roles people in Collective Action initiatives can play, and about how to best manage and maintain the initiatives. What’s in it for us? Making the case for integrity The third session explored how to maintain momentum and relevance of Collective Action initiatives. Pinn Siraprapasiri of the Thai Collective Action Against Corruption Thai CAC presented an inspiring example of how business incentives, such as tax incentives, better credit terms or preferred vendor status, can reinforce ethical conduct. In Thailand, the anti-corruption certification offered by Thai CAC is now a requirement for companies bidding for government procurement projects above a certain threshold. Breakout groups tackled delicate questions: Can business incentives work when anti-corruption enforcement is weak or inconsistent? How can we keep Collective Action alive in fragmented political environments? The discussions revealed both challenges and hope. One participant summarised: Incentives can go a long way when they align with business interests, but to really move things forward, we need both carrots and sticks. The community agreed that access to peer support, shared learning and tangible benefits remain key to keeping companies engaged in Collective Action initiatives in the long term. A growing community, ready to act Participants agreed on the urgent need to make Collective Action initiatives sustainable and resilient in these uncertain times. One emphasised the value of the Basel Institute’s proactive role in convening practitioners, saying: Workshops like this are vital to keep the Collective Action community alive, and help us adapt to fast-changing topics like Environmental, Social and Governance ESG standards and artificial intelligence. Another reflected: Over the years, we’ve built real relationships that go beyond projects or mandates. That’s what makes this community so valuable – it lasts. The workshop closed with a celebration of the winners of the 2025 Collective Action Awards. In today’s unpredictable environment, business integrity is a collective responsibility. Companies that have strong compliance programmes and reach out to other stakeholders are better equipped to withstand shocks, navigate complexity and thrive in the long term. At the Basel Institute, we are committed to supporting companies, organisations and governments in working individually and collectively towards better business integrity and fairer market conditions. If you’d like to learn more and get involved, check out our B20 Collective Action Hub and join the LinkedIn group of our emerging community of practice, designed to serve as an open space for ongoing peer exchange. Learn more Good practices for facilitators of anti-corruption Collective Action Policy Brief on how Collective Action initiatives can benefit from studying informal corrupt networks Collective Action ideas, insights and inspiration – takeaways from previous peer learning workshop
Paris, Vilnius, Basel: Business integrity goes on tour
Paris is known as the city of love. But once a year, during the OECD Global Anti-Corruption Forum GACIF , it also becomes the beating heart of integrity – at least for the anti-corruption community. Under the theme “Designing our future with integrity”, this year’s Forum brought together anti-corruption experts from business, government and civil society from around the world to explore trends in the fight for integrity and against corruption. Amid the global upheavals of the past year, how did this year’s Forum differ from previous editions? And how is the private sector adapting to these evolutions? A few takeaways from our Private Sector team are below. 1 – Celebrating the OECD Convention’s relevance for business 2024 marked the 25th anniversary of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, which recognises Collective Action as a best practice through its complementary 2021 Recommendation. In the presence of the French and Ukrainian Ministers of Justice, the Convention’s anniversary provided impetus to reflect on its many notable successes, as well as the challenges ahead. Discussions recalled the unprecedented importance and relevance of the Convention in ensuring equitable and sustainable global trade. 2 – Major evolutions in integrity and compliance This GACIF also saw the launch of the OECD Anti-Corruption and Integrity Outlook, which assesses the effectiveness of Member States’ integrity efforts, and highlights key developments and trends in anti-corruption. These include the emerging risks in the energy transition, the increasing use of technology in corruption schemes and the growing threats of foreign interference. Speakers discussed the evolving functions of compliance officers and the need to strengthen their role. A key message was the need for compliance roles to evolve from operational to strategic positions within companies. 3 – Participation in shaping business integrity Multiple global crises are impacting the way business is done internationally, reinforcing the role companies play in global anti-corruption efforts. As a result, this year’s GACIF saw a strong private-sector presence, both in terms of attendance and topics discussed. We already saw this trend at the last major anti-corruption event in December 2023 – the 10th session of the Conference of the States Parties CoSP to the United Nations Convention against Corruption UNCAC – where the private sector showed a strong appetite to participate in shaping the global business integrity agenda. 4 – Collective Action is crucial for integrity and fair competition The increased business presence at this year’s GACIF meant that Collective Action was at the centre of many discussions. It was consistently presented as a crucial tool to raise standards of business integrity and level the playing field. The Basel Institute’s session as a GACIF Knowledge Partner on enhancing transparency in the critical infrastructure sector highlighted that: ● Collective Action allows for tailored solutions for each industry. This is demonstrated by the World Economic Forum's Partnering Against Corruption Initiative PACI , whose approach acknowledges that corruption-related challenges differ across industries. ● Integrity Pacts can provide strong incentives for business integrity and create a learning platform for smaller actors in the infrastructure sector to improve their compliance capacity. ● Initiatives such as CoST – the Infrastructure Transparency Initiative are driving long-term policy reform and providing evidence for better decision making, leading to higher-quality infrastructure. 5 – Leaders call for harmonised standards Public-private cooperation was a focus of the OECD’s Anti-Corruption Leaders Hub annual meeting at the forum. This multi-stakeholder community of chief compliance officers and integrity leaders from government and civil society facilitates dialogue on pressing challenges and opportunities. In one of her last public events before her tragic passing on 6 April 2024, Gretta Fenner, the Basel Institute’s Managing Director, moderated a roundtable discussion on bridging the implementation gap between international anti-corruption standards and national policies. Private-sector participants shared how they are responding to the practical challenges of operating globally under misaligned standards, and called on governments to harmonise expectations of businesses. 6 – Opportunities for peer learning and dialogue In a session on innovative peer learning programmes, Vanessa Hans, Head of the Basel Institute’s Private Sector team, highlighted the importance of creating safe spaces for open communication and constructive criticism when dealing with sensitive topics such as corruption. There are many opportunities for anti-corruption and compliance professionals to exchange with each other in a neutral, mutually supportive way. These include dedicated Collective Action initiatives that focus on peer learning and jointly raising standards, such as the Wolfsberg Group, Metals Technology Initiative or many of the other initiatives included in our global database. An interesting current programme for compliance officers initiated by the OECD and Basel Institute on Governance is Compliance without Borders. The programme matches compliance professionals from private companies and state-owned enterprises to exchange experiences, build expertise and discover new anti-corruption systems, techniques and solutions. What’s next? Business integrity is touring Europe After Paris, lovers of business integrity are heading east, to Vilnius, Lithuania, before ending their tour in Basel, Switzerland. Transparency International’s flagship International Anti-Corruption Conference IACC will come to Vilnius from 18 to 21 June 2024 with a dedicated track on “Building a Global Ethical Economy: Advancing Business Integrity and Its Leaders”. A week later, the Basel Institute will convene the global Collective Action community for its 5th International Collective Action Conference. The in-person event will showcase Collective Action as a holistic approach to fighting and preventing corruption, and highlight the Basel Institute’s role in building a global community of practice for Collective Action. The draft agenda is available here. Our annual Anti-Corruption Collective Action Awards will also be presented at the conference – keep an eye out for the public vote here.
Sticks and carrots: New UN Resolution calls on governments to provide incentives for companies to implement anti-corruption measures
Business integrity was among the priority topics at the 10th session of the Conference of the States Parties CoSP to the United Nations Convention against Corruption UNCAC in December 2023. For the first time ever, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime UNODC together with the United Nations Global Compact UNGC hosted a Private Sector Forum in the margins of CoSP10. Serving as a partner of the Forum, the Basel Institute welcomes the UN’s efforts to bring businesses to the table on anti-corruption and business integrity. A new CoSP10 Resolution dedicated to the private sector opens opportunities for Collective Action initiatives, whereby businesses, civil society and governments can jointly engage to implement the international commitments at the national level. UN engages with businesses on anti-corruption In the two decades since the adoption of the UNCAC, significant transformations have taken place both for businesses and the environments in which they operate. A growing number of countries have implemented legislation focusing on corporate compliance and the criminalisation of unethical business practices. Gone are the days of tax-deductible bribes. Today, the expectations on businesses from regulators, investors, customers, employees and other stakeholders are higher than ever. The private sector has an important role to play in the fight against corruption, contributing significantly to the establishment of transparent, accountable and ethical business environments. As major drivers of economic growth and innovation, private enterprises possess considerable influence and resources that can be harnessed to promote integrity and catalyse positive change. Meaningful engagement of diverse stakeholders, including from the business community, in multilateral fora like the CoSP, the UN’s major anti-corruption conference, increases transparency and accountability. It can also contribute to more effective policies that reflect the diversity of contexts and challenges faced by businesses worldwide. Private sector ready to join new platform for collaboration The first ever Private Sector Forum at CoSP10 established a new platform for collaboration on business integrity – and the business community was ready to engage. The Forum discussed how governments can create enabling frameworks for business integrity through a combination of carrots and sticks, i.e., measures that incentivise compliance while ensuring that misconduct is sanctioned. Discussions also drew on insights from an updated Resource Guide on State Measures for Business Integrity that UNODC, UNGC and the Organisation for Economic and Co-operation and Development OECD released prior to the event. A session moderated by Gretta Fenner, Managing Director of the Basel Institute on Governance, showcased how Collective Action initiatives can drive impact to foster more ethical and transparent business environments. Other discussions revolved around joining forces to standardise best practices on anti-corruption in the supply chain, and the role of investors in reinforcing business integrity through Environmental, Social and Governance ESG frameworks. The Forum showed that there is great appetite from businesses to participate in shaping the global business integrity agenda. In a call-to-action, put forward before the 20th anniversary of the UNCAC and presented to delegates at the CoSP, more than 500 companies from around the world urged governments to intensify anti-corruption efforts worldwide and foster Collective Action in the fight against corruption. New CoSP Resolution focuses on private-sector incentives It seems that government delegates heard the private sector’s appeal: they agreed on a new Resolution dedicated to the private sector, tabled by Brazil, Norway and Saudi Arabia. The Resolution acknowledges the importance of governments fostering a conducive environment for the private sector to adopt and implement effective integrity measures to prevent and combat corruption. It calls upon governments to “develop effective frameworks to provide incentives for the private sector to adopt integrity measures, including codes of conduct” and to “implement robust internal governance and risk management systems for preventing acts of corruption”. CoSP Resolutions are not binding. However, they set standards for the implementation of the UNCAC and States parties are expected to take action to implement them. In brief, this Resolution covers: Tangible benefits: Governments should consider providing tangible benefits to companies. These might include public recognition and taking a company’s anti-corruption efforts into account in decisions relating to participation in public programmes, such as those related to subsidies, licences, procurement contracts and export credits. Incentives for enforcement: Governments should consider the effectiveness of a company’s compliance programme when holding them liable for corruption. Additionally, the Resolution invites States parties to explore the possibility of providing incentives for companies to voluntarily disclose instances of corruption and cooperate effectively with national law enforcement authorities. Furthermore, it suggests that when employing alternative legal mechanisms, such as settlements or non-trial resolutions, governments should consider offering appropriate incentives for companies entering such procedures to commit to developing or strengthening their anti-corruption compliance programmes. Evaluating compliance programmes: Governments should consider adopting laws, regulations and public policies to adequately evaluate compliance programmes. That includes developing and making publicly available guidelines, methodologies and other evaluation tools. What’s new, what’s missing and next steps The idea of incentives is not new to the CoSP. Already in 2019, Resolution 8/6 encouraged States parties to consider providing appropriate incentives for the effective implementation of anti-corruption ethics and compliance programmes or measures. However, this time around, the Resolution gives more concrete examples of what these incentives could look like. Also on the plus side, the Resolution enables information exchange by calling for concrete efforts to provide technical assistance and exchange best practices among States. It also directs the Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on the Prevention of Corruption, a subsidiary body of the CoSP, to discuss incentives for the private sector in its future meeting. This literally puts business integrity on the agenda for the coming years. It is encouraging that the focus is not solely on law enforcement but that the Resolution embraces a proactive approach to engaging with the private sector for the prevention of corruption. In this regard, the Resolution can create a space for private sector-driven Collective Action initiatives as well as civil society working with the private sector to engage with governments in their countries on how to best incentivise business integrity on a national level. However, it is a missed opportunity that the idea of incentivising companies’ engagement in Collective Action is not explicitly mentioned. Business engagement in Collective Action can help to level the playing field between competitors and be a game changer for raising integrity standards in industries and markets. This September, UNGC will be celebrating 20 years of the 10th principle of the UN Global Compact committing companies to proactively develop policies and programmes to address corruption internally and within their supply chains. Hopefully, this upcoming anniversary will help to keep up the momentum for business integrity and Collective Action and ensure that governments involve the private sector when putting the recommendations of the Resolution into action. Learn more The Report on the CoSP10 and Private Sector Forum will be made available on the CoSP website. See our guidance documents on Engaging the private sector in Collective Action against corruption: A practical guide for National Anti-Corruption Agencies and Engaging the private sector in Collective Action against corruption: A practical guide for anti-corruption agencies in Africa View photos from the Private Sector Forum by the UN Global Compact.