Mark Pieth has been appointed by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) as one of the three independent persons to its newly created Vetting Panel. The IAAF has been in the spotlight in recent years in relation to corruption in the way it was managing the sport,  culminating in the Russian doping scandal and the banning of the former President of the IAAF and the former treasurer from the sport for life. 

On Wednesday, 19 April 2017 the Basel Institute in cooperation with Norton Rose Fulbright hosted an insightful discussion as to how to develop a successful anti-corruption Collective Action with peer companies or other stakeholders and how Collective Action can invigorate anti-corruption programmes in markets with systemic corruption.  

On May 3rd, 2017, the B20 officially handed over its Policy Recommendations to German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin. The anti-corruption recommendations include calls to establish beneficial ownership transparency, as well as to recognise corporate compliance efforts, as the Chair Klaus Moosmayer said "combatting corruption must be a joint effort that addresses both the supply and the demand sides of corruption.”

Professor Mark Pieth on behalf of the Basel Institute and the German Institute for Compliance (DICO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in June 2017. The cooperation agreement foresees a range of joint projects being undertaken to address compliance themes relevant to the private sector, focusing particularly on preventive work. The agreement was signed at the DICO annual general meeting in Berlin where Professor Mark Pieth held a keynote speech.

Listen to the keynote speech of Professor Mark Pieth, Chairman of the Basel Institute, at the DICO Forum Compliance 2017.

The speech was held on the occasion of the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Basel Institute and the German Institute for Compliance (DICO) in June 2017. More info here.

The Corporate Governance Capacity Building Initiative for Malaysian SMEs, an effort of the Malaysian Institute of Management (MIM) in conjunction with the Basel Institute on Governance kicked off with a half–day conference on "stepping up corporate governance and anti-corruption practices", specifically in the SME sector on 20 July 2017. It focused on the importance of SMEs, the backbone of the Malaysian economy, to take ownership of compliance and corporate governance to ensure sustained competitiveness on the global market.

The Basel Institute on Governance has just released its sixth edition of the Basel Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Index, an annual ranking assessing 146 countries regarding money laundering/terrorism financing risks. To date it remains the only research-based risk rating of countries in this field issued by an independent non-profit institution. It is used by the private sector as an established AML country risk-rating tool for compliance purposes, and in the public sector for research and policy measurement.

Graña y Montero, a Lima based group of engineering and infrastructure service companies operating in five countries in Latin America, announced last week the formation of its new external advisory council in matters of Corporate Governance, Ethics and Compliance. 

The company has appointed three outstanding professionals with expertise in legal strategy, business and international compliance to contribute to the Board's management on corporate governance and strategic business issues, and to support the tasks of the Risk and Compliance Committee.

In 2015 the Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN) contacted the International Centre for Collective Action (ICCA) at the Basel Institute on Governance because MACN needed assistance with finding a local civil society partner in Argentina.

The Metals Technology Industry (MTI) Anti-Corruption Collective Action Initiative has recently expanded its membership. Tenova S.p.A. has joined the three founding members of the Initiative: Danieli & C Meccaniche S.p.A., Primetals Technologies Limited and SMS GmbH - in their anti-corruption Collective Action efforts. Tenova S.p.A. is a leading mechanical engineering company for the steel and non-ferrous metals processing industry headquartered in Castellanza, Italy.