ISIT, Theolex and corruption
For the past two years, Theolex has relied on a small group of ISIT students in the Law, Languages and Intercultural Issues department to make Theolex the indispensable application for tomorrow's legal professionals.
There is nothing like strength creativity, legal and linguistic rigor to enable Theolex to identify essential elements of regulatory decisions in order to analyze them and help companies anticipate risks.
This year's theme was corruption. Julie lays out the key elements.
What is corruption ?
According to the non-governmental organization Transparency International, corruption is defined as "the misuse of delegated power for private gain".
The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is an index published annually by Berlin-based Transparency International since 1995 that ranks countries "according to their perceived level of public sector corruption[1], as determined by expert assessments and public opinion surveys."(CPI)
According to the OECD, the amount of corruption related to public procurement is $2 trillion per year, or 2.5% of global GDP.
What are the risks for companies in France ?
Measures put in place by companies to fight corruption are often insufficient.
French Anti-Corruption Agency AFA's 2020 annual report notes that in 2019, 332 offenses for breaches of probity were the basis for convictions of individuals, mainly for:
- corruption (41%),
- misappropriation of public property by custodian (20,5%),
- illegal interest taking (15,7%),
- favoritism (10,5%),
- concealment of these offences (8,1%),
- influence peddling (3,6%) or more
- concussion (0,6%).**
What are the risks for international companies ?
Companies face reputation risks and loss of confidence in their integrity on the international market, as well as the risk of sanctions.
Who is the regulator in charge of the fight against corruption in France?
Among the many actors involved in the fight against corruption, the French Anti-Corruption Agency (AFA) is a national authority created by Law 2016-1691 of December 9, 2016 on transparency, the fight against corruption and the modernization of economic life.
Placed under the authority of the Minister of Justice and the Minister in charge of the Budget, it assists the competent authorities in preventing and detecting acts of corruption, influence peddling, illegal interest taking, misappropriation of public funds and favoritism. In this respect, the AFA also has an audit role over companies.
Article 1 of the law of December 9, 2016, known as the " loi Sapin II", assigns AFA the mission of helping all persons confronted with it to prevent and detect breaches of probity.
Which actors are involved in the fight against corruption at the international level?
International organizations and associations (United Nations, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Transparency International, etc.) also participate in developing standards of integrity in economic life.
What role for companies in the fight against corruption?
In France, companies exceeding the above-mentioned thresholds as well as their subsidiaries around the world must pay particular attention to Article 17 of the Sapin II law, which details the eight measures to be put in place in the context of their fight against corruption.
The article specifies that the chairmen, general managers and directors of a company are required to take measures to prevent and detect corruption, in France or abroad.
How can Theolex contribute in this context ?
Theolex is an asset for companies in the analysis of corruption risks. By making available all regulatory decisions and negotiated agreements related to corruption with authorities in France as well as in the U.S. and Europe in a single updated database, Theolex offers quick access to all data and instant access to essential data (date, amount of penalty, nature of the violation.)
Theolex also offers the ability to compare data from different decisions to enable targeted analysis.
Finally, Theolex allows you to explore your data via APIs and analyze it in the form of graphs/dashboards or ad-hoc risk analyses.
Below is an example of a dashboard on the theme of corruption.
ISIT , THEOLEX AND CORRUPTION
