How do illegal wildlife products, live animals, exotic marine species and illegally logged timber end up in stores, zoos, aquariums and homes on the other side of the world?

Too easily, is the answer. Weaknesses in global supply chains make them vulnerable to exploitation by organised crime groups and bad actors working in legitimate businesses. Corruption opens the door to that exploitation. And the easy possibilities for laundering money from environmental crimes makes this illicit activity attractive to criminals around the world.

The Basel Institute on Governance and the Thai Institute of Directors (IOD), in conjunction with the Thai Private Sector Collective Action Against Corruption (Thai CAC), have today signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly support the promotion of anti-corruption compliance.

The agreement covers the launch of a pilot project that aims to encourage the local certification of anti-corruption compliance programmes in SMEs, while alleviating the due diligence burden on multi-national companies.

We are seeking an experienced anti-corruption compliance professional to support our fast-growing portfolio of anti-corruption compliance and Collective Action projects.

The role will involve ensuring the delivery of mentoring and online training programmes on anti-corruption compliance and Collective Action topics, as well as contributing to the fulfilment of corporate governance and compliance mandates.

On Wednesday, 2 June, we are honoured to be co-hosting a virtual side event at the 2021 Special Session of the General Assembly against Corruption (UNGASS) in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.

Register here for the 60-minute session at 19:00 CET/13:00 EST: Collective Action: Building Efficient Public-Private Partnerships.

Our Collective Action team asked the London-based Institute of Business Ethics how it makes its research so practical and useful to decision-makers on the ground. Head of Research, Guen Dondé, explains:

Since its foundation in 1986, the Institute of Business Ethics (IBE) has always strived to be a safe space for organisations of all kinds to join forces and tackle the ethical issues they are facing.

The Basel Institute on Governance has joined forces with the Alliance for Integrity and more than 60 partners from 12 countries to raise awareness of the importance of business integrity – and the challenges it can present to individuals, their families, business partners and society.