By Business & Finance 
A KPMG survey of companies representing a range of industries has found a sharp increase in the proportion of respondents who say they are highly challenged by anti-bribery and corruption (ABC) compliance.
The results are published in KPMG’s report Anti-Bribery and Corruption: Rising to the Challenge in the Age of Globalisation, which found that the number of companies challenged by ABC compliance has increased by more than 50%.
Commenting on the findings, Deirdre Carwood, director at KPMG said: “Ireland is globalising rapidly and starting to rely more heavily on third parties than ever before, and often in areas where there is a high risk of corruption.
“Government regulators around the world are making anti-corruption regulations more robust and while regulation in Ireland is a complex network of interrelated statutes, Irish businesses need to understand how they could be exposed at home and abroad. Effective due diligence of overseas third parties is essential to remain compliant.”
The survey also found that more than one-third of respondents do not formally identify high-risk third parties and nearly two-thirds of companies indicate that mergers and acquisitions are part of their growth strategy.
However, 31% of those surveyed are unaware of the consequences of failing to identify risks during acquisition.
The survey targeted 659 respondents covering 64 countries.
Industries were widely represented. Banking comprised 20%, life sciences 12%, manufacturing 10% and energy and natural resources 8%.
