Around one quarter of global firms have been exposed to corruption over the past two years, new research from Ernst & Young has found.
According to the accountancy firm, 23% of senior executives had been approached for bribes – while 18% had “lost business” to a corrupt competitor who offered clients a kick-back.
Ernst & Young found that an average of 24%, over the 33 countries surveyed, had been exposed to at least one form of corrupt practice.
Speaking to Bloomberg, head of fraud investigations at the firm David Stulb said that the study gave companies “reason to be concerned”.
He added, however, that it was “encouraging” that so many business people came forward to discuss their experiences with corrupt practices to researchers.
“To be able to get [the] respondents talking about bribery and corruption would have been difficult five years ago,” he said.
Ernst & Young interviewed 1,186 executives over the course of its research.