According to a recent survey by accountancy firm KPMG, of 60 global executives, 90% indicated that the number of cross-border investigations have either increased or remained the same over the last year. Yet over 50% of these executives also reported that they have limited protocols in place and have insufficient resources to conduct cross-border investigations.
As global regulations, laws, and enforcement actions increase, companies with well-designed cross-border investigation protocols will be positioned for more positive outcomes than those that are not prepared, say KPMG.
“Conducting cross-border investigations is no simple endeavour,” said Phil Ostwalt of KPMG in the US. “Add the complexities of legal and cultural differences and you have one of the biggest challenges facing global corporations.”
Only 35% of respondents in KPMG’s survey indicated that their companies conduct cross-border investigation training each year, a vast decline from KPMG’s 2007 survey when that figure was 80%. Furthermore 42% of the executives believe their companies lack sufficient resources to handle cross-border investigations.
According to KPMG foreign data privacy laws and regulations pose some of the greatest challenges to conducting cross-border investigations because of restrictions on the kinds of data that can be collected and transferred out of the jurisdiction. Many countries have enacted laws that place a high priority on protecting personal data, including establishing a fundamental legal right on the privacy of personal data, even if such data are contained on an employer’s system or computer. The survey indicates that over 46% of respondents reported that their greatest challenge in conducting cross-border investigations is handling data privacy issues.
Cultural differences also remain one of the top three challenges in conducting cross-border investigations, up from 26% in 2007, to 37% in 2013.
In terms of the type of cross-border investigations being carried out 67% of respondents identified allegations of bribery and corruption closely followed by investigations into allegations of embezzlement or misappropriation at almost 65% and conflicts of interest at 63%.
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This blog post is intended as a news item only - no connection between Lewis Nedas and the parties concerned is intended or implied.