The Basel Institute, one of the founding members of the Board of the World Economic Forum Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (PACI), participated in this year’s Spring meeting of the World Economic Forum Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (WEF PACI). The event focused on sharing views on how to rebuild trust and integrity in business and government. PACI’s work is driven by the active participation of its community including the PACI Vanguard Board. Key takeaways included:

Experts of the Basel Institute developed a specialised training on governance of state owned enterprises, anti-corruption prevention and Collective Action for a group of government officials from Uzbekistan. 

The programme, which was delivered at the Basel Institute's headquarters in May, was tailored to the requirements of the participants and was based on a combination of theory and best practices with case examples and practical exercises. The participation of a range of internal and external speakers ensured lively exchanges and discussion on specific issues.

The Basel Institute has been a longtime partner of the B20 anti-corruption working groups, and during the German Presidency has actively supported the Responsible Business Conduct and Anti-corruption work of the B20 by contributing to the development of the final recommendations. These were officially handed over to German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel in May. 

The Basel Institute has recently been appointed to facilitate a new sector-specific Collective Action initiative for the banknote industry. Initial collaborative discussions on the process forward for this initiative has been on-going for a couple of months. These discussions have laid the necessary consultative foundations for the initiative to fully take off in 2018.

An interview with Gemma Aiolfi, Head of Compliance, Corporate Governance and Collective Action at the Basel Institute, has been published by KMPG.

The interview – "From the top: effective anti-corruption measures and the need for change" – discusses the challenges facing banks in combating financial crime, including the need for senior management to lead by example.

We continue to offer our tailored advisory services to companies seeking to improve their anti-corruption compliance programmes.

Many companies with more mature programmes are showing interest in how to adapt elements of behavioural ethics to their compliance approach. Their aim is to go beyond traditional incentives to embed integrity in employees working in areas more exposed to compliance risks. 

Basel Open Intelligence is a new due diligence tool that allows users to collect open-source information on individuals and companies quickly and efficiently.

Powered by the latest natural language recognition technology, BOI uses an automated search function to detect connections between the subject and over 270 keywords in multiple languages. The keywords encompass financial and other crimes, law enforcement and judicial decisions.