Helping New Zealand’s fight against corruption

An important contribution to New Zealand’s fight against corruption will be launched in Auckland today.

An integrity group which includes Transparency International, the Serious Fraud Office, Deloitte, Chapman Tripp, BusinessNZ, ExportNZ, the New Zealand Institute of Directors and the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants have joined together to help better protect New Zealanders in business from exposure to bribery and corruption risk.

Ministers Hon Anne Tolley and Hon Craig Foss will launch the project.

An online ‘Anti-corruption training' module for New Zealand has been created by Transparency International and the Serious Fraud Office which provides training on recognising and reporting concerns about improper practices both within an organisation and in external organisations. At a time when New Zealand businesses and public sector organisations are increasingly interacting with parts of the world where corruption is commonplace, the training provides practical assistance in developing an understanding of avoiding bribery and corruption while doing business.

Deloitte and Chapman Tripp have also prepared personal training courses aimed at raising awareness of the risk of corrupt practices and to help businesses and other organisations deal with such practice by others.

With many countries tightening their anti-bribery laws and the OECD recommending a focus on raising awareness of the risks of corruption, regular and open communication about this topic is crucial. Following the training, users will be able to:

understand what bribery is

understand the legislation around bribery both in New Zealand and around the world

recognise and respond appropriately to situations that may indicate bribery.

The integrity group believe that all New Zealanders should be proud of our very low levels of perceived corruption but exposure to unethical business practice in other countries could harm this reputation.

New Zealand is ranked first equal in the world for freedom from corruption, according to the latest Transparency International Corruption Perception Index.

That freedom from corruption is of immense value to New Zealand businesses and the New Zealand brand, and the anti-corruption training will help maintain this standing.

Training courses will be run through the country by the member organisations involved. The project will also be launched in Wellington next week.

ENDS

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