TrustLaw - Events Calendar

C5's Anti-Corruption Forum — West Africa Edition

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:26:46 GMT

The Western African region (including Nigeria, Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon) is characterised as much for its rampant corruption and bribery as it is for its abundance of natural oil and gas resources. This high perceived risk acts as a big deterrent in the way of foreign direct investment in the region and from those investment that are made, very little of it benefits the local general economy. The risks of investing and operating in this region are heightened by the implementation of the tough new UK Bribery Act and the continued aggressive enforcement of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) particularly in West Africa.

As a recent example, in January 2012, as a result of US Department of Justice investigations under the FCPA, Japanese conglomerate Marubeni Corp. agreed to pay US $54.6 million in criminal fines for its role in the Bonny Island scandal to win billions of dollars of contracts by bribing Nigerian government officials.

Adding to these international compliance pressures company’s must keep abreast of existing and pending regional anti-corruption and bribery legislative frameworks across West Africa. Although enforcement of these regimes remains an issue in many West African countries, Nigeria has demonstrated a willingness to cooperate with international authorities in prosecutions against the members of the TKSJ joint venture.

Foreign companies looking to do business or invest in West Africa and local companies listed on foreign stock exchanges or with ties to foreign companies must establish and maintain resilient anti-corruption compliance policies to avoid intrusive government investigations, significant fines and in some cases, jail terms. No industry will escape scrutiny in this region.

Having developed successful industry-leading Anti-Corruption events across the USA, Europe and in South Africa, brings together a leading faculty of experienced in-house and private practice lawyers, compliance executives and government officials from across the region and internationally, who will provide the latest strategies to facilitate compliance with West-African, US and UK anti-corruption laws and mitigate damages should a violation occur.

Key topics and debates include:

Understanding the applicability of the FCPA and UK Bribery Act on West African business and where the laws conflict
Latest developments in local anti-corruption laws across West Africa and key enforcement priorities of the US, UK and West African agencies
The latest techniques for building and maintaining anti-corruption compliance policies used by leading multinational companies
Navigating specific fraud, bribery and corruption risks when working within local content requirements across the region
Conducting effective third party risk-based due diligence to control and minimise liability risks when operating in developing African nations with limited resources
Establishing effective internal whistle-blowing and investigation procedures to help ensure the safety of investigators in high security risk areas
Balancing compliance with regional and international anti-corruption laws with cultural traditions and expectations of gift giving, hospitality and entertainment

Use this opportunity to benchmark your practices with leading local and international organisations and pick up critical knowledge from the anti-corruption experts. This is an outstanding career, business networking and information sharing opportunity.

Book your place today.

4 easy ways to register:

Click here to register online
PHONE our registration hotline on +44 (0)20 7878 6888
FAX your details directly to +44 (0)20 7878 6885
EMAIL your details directly to registration@c5-online.com

We are currently in the process of developing the agenda and speaker faculty.

Corruption in the Arms Trade – Andrew Feinstein

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:22:29 GMT

18.00 Registration
18.30 Lecture, followed by Q&A
19.45 Drinks reception

To attend this event, please register with Kate Zechner, TI-UK: kate.zechner@transparency.org.uk

C5's 6th Annual London Edition Forum on Anti-Corruption

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:11:37 GMT

Upgrading your Compliance Programme, Detection Strategies and Internal Controls in the New Era of Heightened Enforcement

Fully Updated Agenda

Every June, chief compliance officers, general counsel, forensic accountants from global companies and their advisors attend C5’s Forum on Anti-Corruption in London.

Reserve your seat today for what is regarded as THE must-attend event in Europe that shapes the anti-corruption community.

Key topics include:

Minimising risks when interacting with government officials – Case studies in real-world problems and practiced solutions
Being prepared for potential private rights of actions arising from corruption-related misconduct
Avoiding debarment for potential violations of the FCPA and UKBA
Leveraging internal controls to detect corrupt payments and track sensitive expenses
Latest developments in the implementation and enforcement of the UK Bribery Act: A year in review, including the potential use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs) with the introduction of the UK Bribery Act

Your First Chance to Hear from the New Director of the Serious Fraud Office, David Green

Speakers already confirmed include:

Fabio De Pasquale, Public Prosecutor, Court of Justice of Milano
Jean-Bernard Schmid, State Prosecutor, Republic and Canton of Geneva
Jose Villodre Lopez, Judge – Chief Magistrate, The Court of First Instance, Barcelona
Knut Mager, Head Group Legal Country Organisations, Novartis International AG
John Freeman, Vice President & General Counsel, Technip USA, Inc.
Edwardo Lazzarini, EMEA Compliance Officer, Biomet
Nicola Bonucci, Director Legal Department, OECD
Pascale Dubois, Sanctions Evaluation and Suspension Officer, The World Bank
Hassan Hassan, Associate General Counsel, Mars Corporation UAE

To access the conference website, click here

Civil Society Organizations Fighting Corruption: Theory and Practice Workshop

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:52:40 GMT

The fight against corruption has figured high on the agenda of the international community since the mid 1990s resulting in the adoption of regional and international conventions. Civil society is regarded by many of these conventions as an important tool in this fight. While Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have an obvious role in raising awareness, their more direct involvement in fighting corruption has proved vexing. For example, following the Third Conference of the States Parties to the UNCAC, Doha, 2009, proposals for a peer review mechanism were adopted. These were widely criticized by CSOs for allowing states would to produce reviews that were secretive and lacking transparency. Similarly, CSOs argued for observer status in the Implementation Review Group at the 2010 Fourth Conference in Marrakesh 2010, to be refused by the States Parties. This reluctance on the part of states to allow substantive involvement of CSOs raises a number of interesting questions that merit further delineation and investigation. The UN continues to insist that “CSOs are UN system partners and valuable UN links to civil society . . . . and are indispensable partners for UN efforts at the country level”.

It would be easy simply to blame states for wanting to retain their hold on power and to exclude any bodies that might be critical of their established interests. However, we suggest that this would be an overly-simplistic answer. The relationship between states and CSOs – and between CSOs themselves – is a complex and dynamic one. In this workshop we seek to move beyond statements of blame and recrimination, to surface this complexity and, in so doing, to build a level of understanding that offers a basis for concrete and sustainable actions.

http://www.surrey.ac.uk/law/events/civil_society_organizations_fighting_corruption_theory_and_practice_workshop.htm

Anti-Corruption Conference (London)

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:35:54 GMT

This major international anti-corruption conference for academics and practitioners will be run jointly by the Sussex Centre and TI-UK. Further details will follow on the Transparency International - UK website.

To attend this event, please register with Kate Zechner, TI-UK: kate.zechner@transparency.org.uk

Should the UK Give Aid to Countries with High Levels of Corruption?

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:36:40 GMT

18.00 Registration
18.30 Panel debate, followed by Q&A
19.45 Drinks reception

To attend this event, please register with Kate Zechner, TI-UK: kate.zechner@transparency.org.uk

Sixth Annual Conference and General Meeting of IAACA

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 12:27:18 GMT

The Sixth Annual Conference and General Meeting of the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (IAACA), which will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 4th to 7th October 2012, with the gracious and generous support from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
Substantive contributions to the 2012 IAACA Conference, which are broadly based on this year’s theme of UNCAC Chapter VI: “Technical Assistance and Information Exchange”, are welcome. Submission of papers presented at the plenary sessions and/or at the workshops of the Conference is encouraged at your earliest convenience.

Simultaneous interpretation in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish will be provided in the conference.

The registration fee for the Sixth Annual Conference and General Meeting will be 300 USDs. Details on the payment are available on the official website of MACC (see below).

For further information about the conferences, please visit the conference website of MACC: http://www.sprm.gov.my or the website of IAACA: http://www.iaaca.org.

If you have any questions regarding the Conference, please do not hesitate to contact our colleagues:

Ms. Shamina Binti Ali
Senior Superintendent
Policy, Planning and Research Division
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission
Tel: +60 3 8886 7471
Fax: +60 3 8888 9568

Mobile: +60 196001249
E-mail: iaaca2012@sprm.gov.my
E-mail: shamina.ali@sprm.gov.my

http://www.sprm.gov.my
　　

And

Ms. WAN Juan
Secretariat of IAACA
Tel: +86 10 65200285
Fax: +86 10 65200203
Mobile: +86 15910378104
E-mail: iaaca2006@yahoo.com.cn

http:// www.iaaca.org

The Economics of Corruption: Lecture and Workshop in Good Governance and Reform

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 17:30:34 GMT

Click here to visit the Internet Center for Corruption Research

From October 6 to October 13, 2012 the University of Passau organizes "The Economics of Corruption: Lecture and Workshop in Good Governance and Reform". Around 80 participants are expected from around the world, including students, practitioners and doctoral scholars. Guest presentations by internationally reputable speakers will enrich the course to become truly interdisciplinary.

15th Annual Anti-Corruption Conference 2012

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:57:25 GMT

With the theme, “Mobilising People: Connecting Agents of Change” the 15th edition of the biennial International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) will be held in Brasília, Brazil from 7 - 10 November 2012.

Since 1983, the conference series has served as the leading independent global platform for people who want to limit the damaging impact of corruption on governance, the economy, the environment and most importantly on people’s everyday lives, especially the most vulnerable.

The last edition of the conference, held in Bangkok, Thailand in November 2010, brought together more than 1300 people from over 135 countries, including Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva; Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Managing Director of the World Bank; Gareth Evans, President Emeritus of the International Crisis Group; and Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International; as well as grassroots campaigners from around the world and young journalists from across Asia, to name a few.

Over 1,500 participants from more than 135 countries are expected at the 15th IACC, from the public and private sectors, the judiciary and law enforcement; activists, academia, media, and civil society.

Date:
7 November 2012 - 10 November 2012
Organiser:
IACC Council and Transparency International, Brazilian Government represented by the Office of the Comptroller General (OCG), AMARRIBO Brazil, Instituto Ethos.
Further information:
15 IACC
Location/Address:
Ulysses Guimarães Convention Center (CCUG)
Brasilia
Brazil
Contact Information:

iacc@transparency.org