This evening, 18 October 2011, Nick Kochan and Robin Goodyear are launching their new book on corruption. The Foreword was written by Richard Alderman, the Director if the Serious Fraud Office. Our own partner Vivian Robinson QC, the former first General Counsel to the Serious Fraud Office is acknowledged by the authors as having assisted them with the book.
A significant number of journalists and other professionals working within the anti-corruption sphere have been invited to the book launch. Both Vivian Robinson QC and Richard Alderman will be speaking at the event.
Others including Barry Vitou is acknowledged for his work on director’s liability under the UK Bribery Act. Barry and Richard Kovalevsky QC blog frequently on their site www.thebriberyact.com, in association with Pinsent Masons on corruption issues.
From the inside cover:
“Concerns about corruption have advanced rapidly up the list of priorities for companies throughout the world. Today, firms of every size are under particular pressure as the recently passed UK Bribery Act places some onerous obligations on their directors and employees.
Now, for the first time, corporate strategy and responsibility have been analysed in the context of the new law as well as that of previous statutes and the law of other countries. This book provides a clear and comprehensive introduction to the new legal and political landscape and examines future issues in compliance and enforcement.
Corruption: The New Corporate Challenge surveys the route of corruption, outlines worldwide efforts to combat the problem, and explores enforcement and policy choices for businesses faced with a new international environment that is ever more hostile to corruption.
Numerous case studies and practical compliance tips provide businesses with the knowledge needed to operate in high risk industrial sectors in geographical regions. The authors have conducted extensive interviews with senior figures in law enforcement, academics and lawyers to explore likely developments in the law, and predict how it might be enforced.
This book is essential reading not only for businesses that seek advice on tailoring compliance regimes but also for those wanting a deep context to the global crack down by governments and the courts on corruption. This is a subject that no corporation can avoid.
The strongest response to the new challenge is for a company to revaluate its ethical standards and to impress their standards upon its employees and associates. Failure to do so could be very costly indeed”.
Having recently been travelling around Sweden and America with Vivian Robinson speaking at various seminars to clients and contacts of the firm, I have only just started reading this new book, but what I have read so far is very good and I highly recommend it.