Corruption Perceptions Index 2020 – an Asia Pacific perspective

Late last week, Transparency International released its 2020 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), which ranks 180 countries by their levels of perceived corruption on a scale of zero to 100 (zero being very corrupt and 100 being very clean).

Australia maintained its score of 77 for the fourth consecutive year (which is much less than the 85 we scored in 2012). Some of our key trading partners did not score well. India, South Korea and the United States scored 40, 61 and 67 respectively. The average score for our neighbouring countries – Asia-Pacific – was a concerning 45.

Summary of CPI's findings of Asia-Pacific

According to CPI, Asia-Pacific is struggling to juggle anti-corruption initiatives and legislative reforms with the impacts of COVID-19. Many proposed reforms have failed to materialise, including those in key developing economies such as India, Indonesia and Bangladesh, as result of the health pandemic.

There are also concerns that there is a lack of measures to battle corruption within the public sector of many Asia-Pacific nations. CPI also reports that "civil society actors in Vanuatu, PNG and the Solomon Islands" have called for "greater transparency and accountability in the[ir] COVID-19 response".

How do you protect yourself from risks of corruption in business?

Australian companies, especially those doing business with the above key trading partners, or with countries in the Asia-Pacific region with a low CPI rating, must ensure they are up to date with their corporate governance and compliance protocols. In that regard, Australian businesses must have in place, where applicable, whistleblowing and anti-money laundering and anti-corruption policies. They should also take extra care in their due diligence upon counterparties based in countries with lower CPI ratings. Failure to detect, prevent and stop corruption in your business dealings may result in large fines, criminal sentences and reputational damage.

DLA Piper is committed to working with businesses to ensure that they are aware of the processes they can implement to counter risks of corruption in business. If you have any questions, or would like to know how we can assist, please phone or email our key contacts below.