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BROWSE THE ARCHIVES SINCE 2005

• May 7 – New Sustainability Reporting Website Launched. The European Sustainability Reporting Association (ESRA) has launched a new website on sustainability reporting in European countries. The website gives an overview of recent developments in sustainability reporting and assurance, national government activities, future trends and challenges, and best practice examples from each country.
  
  
• May 6 – Taiwan VP Under Fire for Suspected Attempt to Defraud Government. Taiwanese prosecutors announced that Vice Premier Chiou I-jen is suspected of corruption in connection with a diplomatic scandal involving an alleged attempt to defraud the government of nearly $30 million, The Washington Post reported.  Chiou was responsible for choosing two intermediaries who were entrusted with the money to conduct diplomatic relations, but the two ended up keeping the money for themselves.
  
  
• May 6 - Aflac First American Company to Give Shareholders Say on Pay. At its annual shareholder meeting, Aflac, the large insurer, became the first major American company to give investors a vote on how senior managers are paid, The Washington Post reported.  Some experts are skeptical that the ‘Say on Pay’ movement is picking up steam.  Despite some generous pay packages this year, proposals aimed at giving stockholders an advisory vote on executive pay packages have failed to win widespread support.
  
  
• May 6 – Alstom Suspected of Paying Bribes. French prosecutors suspect engineering giant Alstom, builder of power stations and high-speed trains, of bribing foreign officials to win contracts, reported AFP.  A source close to the investigation, which began last year, reported evidence that the company had "paid hundreds of million dollars in bribes to win contracts in Asia and South America between 1995 and 2003."
  
  
• May 5 - Ethics Report from BAE Systems Admits Shortfalls. BAE Systems has admitted failing to "pay sufficient attention" to ethical standards which could have damaged its reputation, The Telegraph reported.  Former Chief Justice Lord Woolf, who was appointed by BAE to conduct the report, recommended that the company implement a global code of ethical business conduct and carry out an external audit of business conduct, and to the British government, he recommends a rehaul of bribery laws.
  
  
• May 4 - Companies See Upside of Taking Corporate Volunteerism Global.  Big name firms, such as Ernst & Young, IBM and Pfizer are seeing the benefits of their corporate volunteer program where employees are sent on intensive, months-long stints in developing markets around the globe to volunteer at schools, hospitals, start-ups, or even city councils, The Boston Globe reported.  According to company representatives, the programs help cultivate a global mindset and recruit and retain top notch employees.
  
  
• May 2 - Romania Faces $100M Suit over Bribe Solicitation. Eastern Duty Free is suing the Romanian government for $100 million over allegations that government officials demanded $2.5 million bribes in order for the company to retain its contracts it had legally won in 1992 and 1996, The Financial Times reported.  A Washington-based tribunal is set to hear incriminated tape recordings between Romanian officials and directors of EDF which could threaten the already unstable relationship between Bucharest and the European Union due to the country’s poor track record on anti-corruption policies.
  
  
• May 2 - Unilever Announces Commitment to Ethical Sourcing After Criticisms Aired. The environmental activist group Greenpeace used widely dispersed ads featuring Dove soaps and skin creams to accuse the product maker Unilever of destroying Indonesian rain forests for palm oil, a key ingredient in Dove products, The Wall Street Journal reported.  Shortly after, Unilever said it would buy palm oil only from suppliers who can demonstrate they haven't cut down forests.
  
  
• May 1 - Food Crisis Forces Big Agricultural Companies to Examine Their Social Responsibilities. News in the Wall Street Journal that big agricultural companies are making soaring profits brings forth a whole host of issues that these companies must face, such as the ethics of sky-high profits in the face of a global food crisis.  Many of these companies are being asked what they are doing to help mitigate the crisis and to reassess the decision to continue large production of biofuel which has constituted a significant portion of agricultural consumption.
  
  
• April 30 - New German Trademark Unveiled to Promote Corporate Responsibility. Germany’s labor minister announced that a new insignia will be released which companies could voluntarily adopt to indicate compliance with social and environmental standards, plus good labor practices and governance issues, such as anti-corruption policies, The Financial Times reported. He said that although Germany is the world's leading export nation, recognition of the need to combine business with corporate responsibility remains underdeveloped, especially among smaller companies.
  
  
• April 30 - Chinese Officials Bust Child Labor Ring. Chinese authorities in Guangdong Province said they had made several arrests and had already “rescued” more than 100 children from factories in the city of Dongguan, one of the country’s largest manufacturing centers for electronics and consumer goods sold around the world, The New York Times reported. The officials said they were investigating reports that hundreds of other rural children had been lured or forced into captive, almost slavelike conditions for minimal pay, a situation which experts in the country say is not uncommon.
  
  
• April 30 - Siemens Internal Report Reveals Violations and Infractions. The law firm hired by Siemens to investigate claims of corruption at the company said it had found evidence of compliance violations and other infractions throughout the company, and in several countries where it operates, The Associated Press reported. See more EthicsWorld coverage of German press reports.
  
  
• April 29 - Report Calls Chevron Complicit in Human Rights Abuses in Myanmar. EarthRights International claimed Chevron is complicit in human rights abuses along a natural gas pipeline in Myanmar in which the oil and gas company holds a stake, Reuters reported.  The report alleges that Myanmar's army has in recent years committed serious abuses including rape and murder while providing security for the pipeline.
  
  
• April 29 - Rockefellers Emerge to Express Need for Reform at ExxonMobil. The Rockefeller family, the longest continuous shareholder in ExxonMobil, is abandoning its behind-the-scenes role at the company to press for corporate governance reforms including an independent chairman and a stronger board, The Financial Times reported.  The family's role in Exxon has diminished over the years but its views have symbolic importance at a time of rapid change in the industry - symbolised by the growing power of state-owned companies over oil reserves.
  
  
• April 28 - Burger King at Center of Debate over Tomato Picker Rights in Florida. Farm worker advocates sought to present more than 80,000 signatures to Burger King officials urging the fast-food giant to join McDonald’s Corp. and Taco Bell to help boost the wages of Florida tomato pickers and improve conditions in the field, the Associated Press reported.  The presentation of the petitions came the same day that a newspaper reported that a top Burger King official used his young daughter’s e-mail address to spread misinformation about the farm worker group soliciting the signatures.
  
  
• April 28 - BP, Chevron, and ExxonMobil Singled Out for Poor Revenue Transparency.  At a time when major oil companies around the world are announcing record profits, the Financial Times’ analysis of a new Transparency International report states little progress has been made on making oil revenues more transparent. TI placed American companies BP and Chevron as well as France’s Total in a middle tier of revenue transparency; whereas ExxonMobil is in the bottom group. 
  
  
• April 28 – Editorial: US Should Better Understand Both Sides of the Oil Industry. An editorial from the Boston Globe highlights the need for the United States to focus more attention on the human rights and corruption abuses happening at “the other end of the pipeline.”  Specifically in the Nigerian River delta, numerous incidents have arisen recently where local residents have complained of oil company abuses and local militants have attacked industry facilities and kidnapped workers. 
  
  
• April 28 - Shareholder Resolutions on “Say on Pay” Increased from Last Year.  A Wall Street Journal column suggests “say on pay,” the right of shareholders to have a non-binding vote on executive compensation, is more complex than meets the eye.  More shareholders and even Congress have been supportive of say on pay, but some investors are still skeptical if it’s the best remedy.
  
  
• April 24 - UK Fraud Office Will Seek Court Appeal on BAE Systems Ruling. Britain's High Court said that it would allow the Serious Fraud Office to appeal a ruling that the agency acted unlawfully when it opted to abandon a corruption inquiry into an arms deal between Saudi Arabia and BAE Systems, The Wall Street Journal reported.  The fraud agency is questioning whether the judiciary has the right to intervene in the case.
  
  
• April 24 - New President of Taiwan Cleared of Corruption. Taiwan's Supreme Court cleared the island's president-elect Ma Ying-jeou of corruption charges less than a month before he takes office, AFP reported. Ma had been accused of misusing more than 11 million Taiwan dollars (nearly 340,000 US dollars) in expense accounts while he was Taipei mayor between 1998 and 2006, charges he strenuously denied.
  
  
• April 23 – Siemens Health Care Director Steps Down.  Siemens AG said that the head of its health care sector, Erich Reinhardt, will resign from the company after new findings by the law firm investigating corruption claims uncovered violations in compliance cases in the former Siemens Medical Solutions Group, reported The Associated Press. 
  
  
• April 22 - Samsung Chief Resigns.  South Korea's Samsung Group President Lee Kun-hee resigned after a special court charged him with tax evasion and breach of trust, Xinhua reported.  According to the prosecutors, Lee was suspected of trading Samsung shares with secret money and secured huge profits, while evading about 112.8 billion won (114 million U.S. dollars) worth of taxes.
  
  
• April 21 - CalPERS Steps Up Corporate Governance Standards.  The board of Calpers, the biggest U.S. pension fund, approved plans to put more emphasis on corporate board diversity and what environmental risks companies pose when it assesses corporate management and governance, Reuters reported.  The fund also endorsed a bill before California lawmakers that would specifically create, for publicly held companies that do business with the state, a standard on disclosing information about climate change-related activities.
  
  
• April 21 - For Business Students, CSR Takes A Back Seat.  A study from a U.S-based nonprofit says that many students getting their Masters in business administration do not believe corporate social responsibility has a significant impact on a company’s bottom line, BusinessWeek reported.  Students also said they felt recruiters didn't place a high value on personal integrity or students' understanding of social issues.
  
  
• April 18 - Chinese Banking CEO Attempts to Dispel Mystery Behind His Country’s Corporate Culture. The CEO of China’s sixth-largest bank by assets sat down for an interview with the Wall Street Journal for a rarely seen look into the traditionally non-transparent Chinese corporate culture.  Ma Weihua, the chief executive of China Merchants Bank, discussed conversations he had with leading American bankers and how in many ways, they view business in the same light. 
  
  
• April 18 - FBI Chief Suggests U.S. in Period of ‘Moral Crisis’.  The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation Chief expressed concern over the high number of public corruption and corporate fraud cases under investigation, the Associated Press reported.  The FBI has 2,500 cases of public corruption under investigation, an increase of 50 percent from five years ago, and corporate fraud cases have increased by more than 80 percent, the FBI chief said, pointing to the recent surge in mortgage fraud investigations.
  
  
• April 17 - Samsung Chairman Declared Guilty of Tax Evasion, but Will Go Unpunished. A special prosecutor in South Korea indicted Samsung’s Chairman for tax evasion and breach of trust, but found no evidence of bribery or slush funds, a ruling that sparked public outcry, The Wall Street Journal reported.  Furthermore, the prosecutor will not arrest the chairman of South Korea’s largest conglomerate because that would "cause enormous disruptions" to the 59 Samsung companies.
  
  
• April 17 - Bribe Paying in Mexico Up 42% from 2005, Survey Says. A survey, conducted by the non-profit group Transparency Mexico, showed that 197 million bribes were paid nationwide in 2007 — compared to 115 million in 2005, USA Today reported.  Corruption is so rooted and pervasive in Mexican culture that many people see nothing wrong with it, the article states. A continuum runs from tipping a waiter to bribing a politician, with no clear line separating what's acceptable and what's not.
  
  
• April 16 - WaMu’s Annual Meeting Sees Some Governance Reforms. In addition to the resignation of Washington Mutual’s director of the board finance committee over subprime-related losses, the Seattle-based company will revise its incentive-pay program that shielded executives' cash bonuses from some costs tied to mortgage losses and foreclosures, The Wall Street Journal reported.  Shareholders also voted to ask Chairman and CEO Mr. Kerry Killinger to give up his role as chairman, as the bank continued to take a financial beating.  Mr. Killinger is now under pressure to justify why he should remain in his job.
  
  
• April 16 - Independent Panel in U.S. Encourages Hedge-Fund Transparency. The U.S. Treasury Department set up two committees, composed of senior executives of large hedge funds and major institutional investors such as pension funds, to address oversight and transparency, The Washington Post reported.  The committees proposed setting up independent bodies to oversee how fund managers are pricing hard-to-value financial investments and examine whether they are facing conflicts of interest.
  
  
• April 15 - New Accusations Arise that Merck Generated Biased Medical Reports. Two new reports claim Merck & Co. frequently paid academic scientists to take credit for research articles prepared by company-hired medical writers, The Associated Press reported. They claim Merck tried to minimize deaths in the research articles which showed that the now withdrawn Vioxx didn't work at treating or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
  
  
• April 14 - Serbian Defense Supplier to Iraq Under Fire. Controversy is spreading over a report alleging that a multi-million dollar Serbian arms deal with Iraq had been negotiated without the knowledge of U.S. or Iraqi military officials, The Associated Press reported.  The report described the weapons as “shoddy” and were negotiated without competitive bidding or proper anti-corruption safeguards.
  
  
• April 14 – Bribery, Undue Political Influence to Gain Funding Show Danger of Earmarks in US. Recent investigations into federal bribery and political conflicts of interest at the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command are once again raising the issue of earmarks, or congressional funding of special projects slipped into legislation, The Wall Street Journal reported.  Much of the criticism of earmarks has centered on whether they waste public funds, but they are also a problem because they are subject to less oversight and often are awarded without competitive bidding.
  
  

Debate over Tax Havens - An Asset for Growth or Breeding Ground for Dirty Money?

Raymond Banker, the Director of the Global Financial Integrity Project and guest-scholar at The Brookings Institution, has devoted his career to studying illicit financial flows and its effect on developing nations.  The Wall Street Journal recently published a debate between Mr. Baker and senior fellow at The Cato Institute Dan Mitchell.  Mr. Mitchell specializes in tax policy and is a great proponent of global tax competition and fiscal sovereignty.  While he argues that tax havens are an asset to international growth and freedom, Mr. Baker highlights the extreme damage that tax havens, and the financial institutions that operate within them, have on global democracy and the equitable distribution of wealth.


• April 14 - Siemen’s Probe Keeps Expanding. German prosecutors have begun investigating suspected bribery at Siemens's power-transmission division, expanding the scope of what is already the country's biggest-ever corruption probe, Reuters reported.  A trial of the suspected ringleaders at its once-mighty communications unit begins in late May.
  
  
• April 13 - Bulgarian Interior Minister Steps Down over Alleged Corruption. Bulgaria's influential Interior Minister Rumen Petkov resigned Sunday amid a snowballing corruption scandal that exposed links between top crime-busters and suspected criminals, AFP reported.  Petkov came under fire after admitting to having contacts with key organised crime suspects, which undermined several criminal investigations. 
  
  
• April 11 - Order to Drop BAE Probe ‘Invites Dismay, If Not Outrage,’ Say Top Judge. A British High Court has called the government’s scrapping of a probe into arms deals between BAE Systems and Saudi Arabia unlawful, The Financial Times reports.  The decision was made after the British Serious Fraud Office was told to suspend its bribery probe into BAE’s “Al Yamamah” arms program with the Saudi government – apparently after threats from Prince Bandar bin Sultan that Riyadh would withdraw cooperation on intelligence and cancel the £20bn deal.  Transparency International UK welcomes the court ruling.
  
  
• April 9 - Morgan Stanley CEO Wins Chairmanship Despite Governance Concerns.  Facing wavering support arising from the subprime turmoil and other corporate governance issues, Morgan Stanley Chairman John Mack won re-election as the company’s Chairman and CEO, The New York Times reported.  Different shareholder rights groups have questioned the independence of the board and suggested the role of the Chairman remain independent.  Investor outcry is overwhelming Mark’s and Spencer CEO, Stuart Rose, who was recently appointed as Chairman, according to an article in the London Times.   The dual role is not as easily accepted as best practice in UK corporate governance.
  
  
• April 8 - Former Nigerian President Faces Tougher Investigations. A Nigerian Parliamentary commission, as well as several official state bodies, are deep into investigations over former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s mismanagement of billions of dollars in oil money, over money spent on the improvement of the power sector, which never showed results, and how companies were sold off to cronies on the cheap, AFP reported. 
  
  
• April 7 - Establishing Ethical Guidelines A Challenge for Canadian Government. As a string of Canadian politicians are accused of improperly benefiting from government dealings, The Canadian Press reports how Canadians themselves are debating as to how best to enforce ethical conduct – through legislation or the ballot box? 
  
  
• April 7 - Two Major Chinese Websites to be Tried for Music Piracy.  The Beijing First Intermediate People's Court has agreed to hear cases that several music industry companies have brought against two China-based Internet heavyweights that offer illicit music downloading, The Wall Street Journal reported.  If awarded, the claims could amount to up to $16.5 million but more importantly, could set a precedent for further, far larger claims running into the billions of dollars, based on the total number of tracks that are illegally available online in China.
  
  
• April 6 - German Federal Report Claims Conflicts of Interest in Government Jobs. An internal report from the German federal audit commission says too many corporate executives were able to draft laws or take senior ministerial jobs in government, even though they remained on the payroll of their companies, The Financial Times reported.  The leaked audit commission report says the “potential [for the experts] to influence decision-making was very wide”, adding that the practice could undermine trust in the neutrality of government officials, given that there was no transparency on the background to the executives.
  
  
• April 4 - Samsung Head Appears for Questioning over Alleged Slush Fund. The head of South Korea's biggest business group Samsung appeared for questioning as part of a high-profile probe into an alleged multi-million dollar bribery slush fund, AFP reported.  The probe is controversial in Korea, but despite protests, the prosecutors have mounted an aggressive investigation.
  
  
• April 3 - Hewlett-Packard First in Technology Industry to Release Top Suppliers. Hewlett-Packard publicly released a list of its largest suppliers, representing more than 95 percent of the company’s procurement expenditures for materials, manufacturing and assembly of its products worldwide, according to a company press release. HP hopes the increased visibility will result in positive operational changes in supplier labor, health and safety, environmental and ethics practices and will encourage other companies to do more to advance supply chain responsibility.
  
  
• April 3 - Manila Losing Massive Amounts in Procurement Totals, Says World Bank. In a draft report presented to the Philippine Development Forum last week, the World Bank estimates that the government loses about P30 billion a year, or 20 percent to 30 percent of the total amount of every contract that Manila signs, as a result of corruption or procurement inefficiency, The Manila Times reported.  Although there are healthy legislative and regulatory frameworks in place, the World Bank stated, the actual procurement operations “still regularly fail to meet expectations.”
  
  
• April 2 - Government Leaders Worldwide Compelled to Step Down.  Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern has announced he will resign conceding that 18 months of growing criticism of his personal finances has taken a toll on the effectiveness of his government, the Wall Street Journal reported. Former government minister and Israeli legislator, Shlomo Benizri, was convicted of taking bribes in a court document Haaretz calls “shocking.” Under very different circumstances, The Associated Press reported that Finland's foreign minister Ilkka Kanerva was forced out due to a lack of trust after inappropriate text messages he sent to an exotic dancer were discovered.
  
  
• April 2 - Imprisoned Former Enron CEO Seeks Appeal. Enron Corp’s former chief executive, Jeffrey Skilling, will try to persuade a U.S. appeals court in New Orleans to void two 10-year terms he got for defrauding the seventh-largest U.S. company by sales, Bloomberg reported.  Skilling has already been sentenced to 24 years and four months for his role in Enron's collapse, and even if he wins the appeal, he may have to still spend more than four years in jail.
  
  
• April 2 - Amid Controversy, European Defense Industry Considers Ethics Code. Europe's aerospace and defense companies are being asked to sign up to a voluntary code of ethics as part of an industry-wide initiative to help defend its reputation against allegations of corruption, The Financial Times reported. Companies would commit themselves to ensuring that no money or other gifts are illicitly channeled to a potential government customer and that independent advisers used on foreign arms sales are properly vetted and their behavior audited.
  
  
• April 1 - American Oil Execs Defend Large Tax Breaks Before Congress. Senior executives from the five largest U.S. oil companies are appearing before a congressional committee to justify tax breaks on their companies that contribute to billion dollar profits when oil prices are rising through the roof, reported The Associated Press.  The oil industry has that the tax breaks are needed to assure continued investment in exploration, production and refinery expansions while many congressmen are arguing for investing in more alternative energy sources.
  
  
• April 1 - Colorado Proposes Tough Executive Accountability Measure. Prompted by the insider-trading scandal that damaged the reputation of Colorado-based Qwest Communications, the state has proposed a new law that would leave top business officers with unprecedented individual accountability, The New York Times reported. The measure would make business executives criminally responsible if their companies run afoul of the law and would permit any Colorado resident to sue the executives under such circumstances.
  
  
• March 31 - Investor Outcry at Marks & Spencer Raises Questions Over Governance. Growing criticism of British retailer Marks & Spencer’s move to make Sir Stuart Rose both chairman and chief executive, against corporate governance best practice, means non-executive directors at the company are likely to veto any pay rise for Rose, reported The Times of London.  M&S will seek this week to defuse further opposition to Rose’s appointment by writing to all shareholders with a detailed explanation of its actions.
  
  
• March 29 – Report Estimates Charities Losing Billions, Few Are Punished. Authors of a report published in the December 2007 issue of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly estimate that in 2006, an average of $40 billion was lost to fraud in the nonprofit sector, The New York Times reports.  If the $40 billion figure is accurate, then the money lost to fraud equaled the combined giving by corporations and foundations in 2006, said Diana Aviv, president and chief executive of the Independent Sector, which represents nonprofit groups.  The report also found that the typical profile of these thieves is a female employee with no criminal record who earned less than $50,000 a year.  
  
  
• March 28 – Puerto Rican Governor Charged with Misuse of Public Funds. The Governor of Puerto Rico has surrendered to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation after having been charged with accepting improper donations from four Philadelphia donors and a Puerto Rican business owner, all of whom were alleged to be seeking favors and introductions to federal and island agencies, The Washington Post reported.  No one involved in the investigation believes there was any political interference.
  
  
• March 27 - Recent Study Says NGOs Having More Influence on Consumer Decisions. A study from Peppercom and Media-Screen shows three in four consumers say their purchasing and, to lesser but growing degree, investment decisions are influenced by non-government environmental groups or NGOs, The Environmental Leader reported.  Although a number of companies have forged partnerships with NGOs, the study found that a significant percentage do not, citing lack of trust or common goals, and uncertainty on which NGOs to seek out.
  
  
• March 27 - Late Suharto Acquitted, but Charity Forced to Pay. An Indonesian court acquitted the late former president Suharto in a civil corruption case, but ordered his charitable foundation to repay more than 100 million dollars in state funds, AFP reported. The panel of judges said both Suharto and his Supersemar Foundation had engaged in "actions that ran against the law," but acquitted the former leader, saying he did so in his capacity as an executive of the charity.
  
  
• March 27 - Medvedev Announces New Anti-Corruption Policies for Small Businesses. Russian president-elect Dmitry Medvedev ordered a halt to arbitrary inspections of small businesses which he said are often an excuse to collect bribes, Reuters reported.   Medvedev also ordered the government to review legislation to protect small companies from being forced to enter dubious contracts with officials, but it is not yet clear whether any of these reforms will have a real impact on corrupt officials who have survived past attempts to curb corruption.
  
  
• March 26 - Top MBA Programs More Likely to Address Sustainability in Core Courses. American business schools are reflecting the changes in the marketplace by integrating studies of corporate citizenship into their programs, including environmental studies, reported U.S. News and World Report.  The UCLA Anderson School of Management offers electives centered on topics like social entrepreneurship, business and the environment, and ethical considerations in business, but sustainability themes are emerging in required classes like economics and strategy as well.
  
  
• March 26 - Two Nigerian Ministers First to be Fired for Graft. In a sign that Nigeria’s president Umaru Yar’Adua might be taking a tougher stand on graft, two ministers were fired for stealing public funds, reported The Financial Times.  Yar’Adua came to power in what many believe was a rigged election, but his recent actions have caused some to reconsider his reputation.  
  
  
• March 25 - Report Says Around 40% of Afghan Aid Ends Up in Donor Countries. A report released by an alliance of international aid agencies working in Afghanistan says the international community has pledged $25bn to Afghanistan since 2001 but only $15bn has been delivered, The Guardian reports.  A total of 40% of the money that has been delivered was funnelled back into Western firms engaged in the programs.
  
  
• March 25 - CalPERS Blackslists Five Companies for Poor Governance. California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), America’s largest public pension fund, named five companies that it will watch closely due to their poor governance standards, according to CalPERS .  “Besides having sub-par stock performance, these companies refused to address corporate governance issues that have a bearing on how they perform in the market,” said CalPERS board president. The companies include The Cheesecake Factory, a restaurant company; Hilb Rogal & Hobbs, an insurance-brokerage firm; Invacare, a health care equipment supplier; and La-Z-Boy and Standard Pacific, both in the household durables and homebuilding sectors. 
  
  
• March 25 - Updated “Corporate Manslaughter” Law Could See More Prosecutions in UK. A new UK law will make companies more vulnerable to acts of “corporate manslaughter,” The Financial Times reports. Higher fines, more police probes, and wider investigations are just some actions meant to make companies more accountable.
  
  
• March 24 - British Investment Fund Excludes Six Companies Based on Ethics. A major UK insurance company, which has £19bn under investment, is taking a tough stand on ethics by refusing to invest in several companies based on their environmental, social, and governance policies, The Guardian reported.  Co-operative Insurance Society excluded retailer French Connection, publisher Euro-money Institutional Investors, home shopping group N Brown, cruise line Carnival, technology company Amstrad and Asian miner Kazakhmys. Boardroom pay has also taken center stage in investment discussions.
  
  
• March 21 - Starbucks To Pay Back $100M in Tips to Employees . A California court judge ordered Starbucks to pay back $100 million in tips to California baristas, which the company used to pay its shift supervisors, The Associated Press reported.  California law prohibits managers and supervisors from sharing in employee gratuities, and the court ruled Starbucks illegally used tips to pay their supervisors instead of using money from its own pocket. 
  
  
• March 21 - “Impossible” Goal of Filling Board Seats with Women Has Been Met in Norway. When law was enacted in Norway in 2003 requiring companies to fill 40 percent of corporate board seats with women by 2008, “executives were quoted as saying it was a completely ridiculous law and it would never happen," the International Herald Tribune reported.  But now it has with some companies embracing the change enthusiastically. Now Norway's initiative is being followed elsewhere. The Spanish Parliament has passed legislation calling for 40 percent board participation by 2015, and a Dutch organization called TopBrainstorm is preparing a voluntary charter for corporations to sign that would commit companies to meet targets for getting women into the kind of senior executive positions that make it possible for them to become board candidates.
  
  
• March 21 - U.S. Dept. of Justice Investigates Alcoa for Alleged Bribery. The Justice Department is opening a criminal inquiry into allegations that Alcoa Inc. was involved in bribery in the Persian Gulf country of Bahrain, the Wall Street Journal reported.  The suit claims that for 15 years Alcoa systematically overcharged its long-time customer Alba for supplies of alumina, a precursor to aluminum used in smelting. Some of the proceeds of the overcharges were used to fund potentially improper payments to a senior Bahrain government official who is already under investigation in that country.
  
  
• March 20 - US, Singapore, and Abu Dhabi Agree on Guidelines for Sovereign Wealth Funds. The US announced on Thursday that it had reached an agreement with Abu Dhabi and Singapore on a set of principles for investment by sovereign wealth funds, The Financial Times reported.  The agreement stated that sovereign wealth fund investment decisions “should be based solely on commercial grounds, rather than to advance directly or indirectly the geopolitical goals of the controlling government,” the need for “strong governance structures” and internal controls for the funds and respect for host country regulatory disclosure rules. Washington also wants the agreement to serve as a stepping stone for wider-ranging efforts by the International Monetary Fund and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
  
  
• March 20 - Elections in Zimbabwe a Poor Show of Democracy, Says HRW. Human Rights Watch have expressed serious concerns over corruption in the Zimbabwean electoral campaigns, the Associated Press reported.  President Robert Mugabe is accused of continued violence against detractors; restricting freedom of assembly; using distribution of food and farming equipment to gain political advantage and denying opponents access to the media ahead of the March 29 poll.
  
  
• March 20 - Russian Government Could Embrace More Openness. Contrary to former Russian President Vladmir Putin’s policies, newly-elected President Dmitry Medvedev made statements that suggest his government will allow more participation from civil society groups, Reuters reported. "The voice of such groups should be heard in our society," Medvedev said. "There should be a practical mechanism for defending their rights and interests. Only in this way can our society can become truly harmonious."
  
  

• March 20 - Weiss Plea Deal in Kickback Scheme Likely Means Jail. Melvyn Weiss, the onetime powerhouse shareholders lawyer, has struck a deal to agree to plead guilty in a case alleging improper kickbacks, which will effectively end a long-time probe into his law firm, Milberg Weiss LLP, the Wall Street Journal reported.  Lawyers familiar with the case say that the two-year sentence of former lead lawyer in the firm, William Lerach, would likely establish a floor for a potential jail term for Mr. Weiss.
  
  
• March 19 - How Much Does Performance Count? Executive Pay in Petroleum Companies.  Ray R. Irani, Los Angeles- based Occidental Petroleum Corp.'s longtime chairman and chief executive, received compensation last year valued at $63.5 million, a figure some say was awarded not based on performance, but on factors beyond his control, The Wall Street Journal reported.  More than 90% of Dr. Irani's compensation was tied to performance, most of it in stock; only about $5.6 million was in cash, said WSJ.  However, Occidental's success has been because of surging oil prices, which have been driven by rising demand in Asia, security concerns in oil-producing nations and a flood of money from investors seeking refuge from the weak dollar – all beyond Mr. Irani’s control. 
  
  
• March 19 - Nepal Central Bank Governor Fired for Embezzlement. The central bank governor in Nepal was found guilty of corruption by Nepal’s supreme court and fired, but not jailed, reported The Associated Press.  Bijaya Nath Bhattarai was convicted of embezzling money while granting contracts to foreign consultants hired to help make managerial reforms, but the consultants never came to Nepal. The governor was unable to prove the money actually went to the consultants.
  
  
• March 18 – EU Fund Suspensions Put Bulgaria in Tough Spot. Bulgaria’s admission into the European Union just over a year ago was supposed to be contingent on the country’s willingness to clean up corruption, but according to BBC News, there are still significant problems.  Three streams of EU project funding have been suspended because of apparent fraud, and Bulgaria is beginning to pay the EU more than it receives.  There is a strong perception that Bulgaria is backsliding on anti-corruption measures, so the EU is trying to send a strong message by cutting funding.
  
  
• March 17 – When Crisis Hits Bankers Can Also Lose. Stock price at investment firm Bear Stearns has plunged. In a sale The New York Times reported “stunned” Wall Street, J.P Morgan Chase purchased the firm at just $2 a share, compared to the $170 price one year ago. One-third of all Bear shareholders are company employees.  In an unusual case, The NY Times noted that former CEO James Cayne, whose stock holdings in 2007 were worth around $1.2 billion, now finds his stock valued at just  $13.5 million, showing the risks involved in corporate compensation.  The financial crisis has caused many questions about executive compensation to resurface, including a recent U.S. Congressional hearing on the enormous severance pay received by some top Wall Street former CEOs after their firms reported record losses and they were ousted from their positions.
  
  
• March 17 - U.S. Dept. of Justice Probes Shell over Possible Violations of Anti-Bribe Law – Royal Dutch Shell said the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating its use of Basel-based logistics firm Panalpina which is suspected bribery in Nigeria, Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia, Reuters reported. Panalpina has quit its Nigeria operations following the probe and said last week in a statement that it had "certain indications that, in the past, violations of the FCPA may have occurred."
  
  
• March 16 - Key Buyer at Sainsburys Suspected of Accepting Kickbacks. John Maylam, a senior buyer at UK supermarket chain Sainsburys, was arrested last week over receiving irregular payments from Greenvale, which supplies nearly half of the chain’s potatoes, the London Times reported.  Mr. Maylam, the center of the £3m investigation, is one of the company’s most respected buyers in a potato market considered to be “cutthroat.”
  
  
• March 15 - High-Profile Lawyer Pleads Guilty to Bribery Plan. Richard Scruggs, a Mississippi class-action suit lawyer, plead guilty to conspiring to bribe a judge and faces up to five years in prison, The Wall Street Journal reported.  Scruggs made a name for himself fighting the tobacco industry.  His recent guilty plea exposes a more troubling side of the legal industry.
  
  
• March 14 - India and World Bank Agree on Project Reforms for Health Sector. The World Bank and the Indian government announced joint actions in response to clear indicators of fraud and corruption in the health sector, Xinhua reported. Agreed joint actions include comprehensive procurement audits and performance reviews by independent third-party agents, strengthened procurement and financial management in the Ministry of Health, increased use of community-monitoring and oversight, and intensified supervision for civil works and equipment and pharmaceutical procurement.
  
  
• March 13 - EU Legislators Conduct Inquiry over Iraq Aid Use. European aid to Iraq came under scrutiny yesterday as legislators demanded answers from the European Union’s external affairs commissioner, about the use of millions of euros for reconstruction, The Financial Times reported.  The problem is that the money is put into a central pot administered by the United Nations and the World Bank, and it is not possible to break down where every cent went. However, legislators say that violates the bloc’s financial rules, which state that all recipients must be identified.
  
  
• March 12 - Using In-Country Procurement Rules in World Bank Projects Raises Concern. The Bush administration, together with U.S. and foreign business organizations, challenged a World Bank proposal that would allow developing countries to use their own contracting rules for bank-funded projects, citing a likely increase in corruption, reported The Washington Times.  A revised version of a proposal introduced last year would organize a pilot program to use “country procurement systems” in bank-supported operations, but according to a WB representative, discussions are still taking place.
  
  
• March 12 - Families File Suit Against Chiquita for Role in Missionary Deaths. Relatives of five U.S. missionaries slain in the 1990s by Colombian rebels have filed suit against Chiquita Brands International for their alleged indirect role in the slayings, the Wall Street Journal reported.  Chiquita has previously admitted to secretly paying off the Colombian rebels in exchange for the protection of their workers and family members, but the victims’ families believe those payments contributed to the deaths. 
  
  
• March 11 – China Launches First Socially Responsible Investment Fund. A Chinese investment company is ready to launch the country’s first mutual fund which will invest “socially responsible” Chinese-listed firms, Reuters reported.  Analysts expect the fund to target companies engaged in environmentally friendly projects.
  
  
• March 11 - Sierra Leone Plans Mining Reviews to Clean Up the Lucrative Industry. Sierra Leone has recruited World Bank experts to do a three month review of all mining contracts in the country in order to root out corruption and stop illegal mining by firms which only have exploration permits, Reuters reported.  Mining accounts for 90 percent of the country's exports, but due in large part to civil war during the 1990s, Sierra Leone is sill ranked as the least developed country in the world by the United Nations.
  
  
• March 11 - European Commission Calls for CSR Proposals to Enhance Industry. The European Commission is starting a new funding program to enhance corporate social responsibility in European industrial sectors, according to the EC website. The EC is calling for proposals from new and existing partnerhips that will promote CSR in a particular sector.
  
  
• March 11 - New York Governor’s Dark Side Made Public.  New York state assemblymen were shocked to learn that federal prosecutors have linked the Governor of New York to involvement in a prostitution ring, reported The New York Times.  Ironically, Governor Eliot Spitzer won his position by a landslide on a pledge to bring higher ethical standards to the statehouse, and as the former Attorney General, oversaw the prosecution of at least two prostitution rings by the state’s organized crime task force. 
  
  
• March 10 - UK Considers Requiring “Equality Audits” for Employers. Britain's equality watchdog wants tough new powers to tackle employers who fail to hire or promote staff from "disadvantaged" groups, reported The Telegraph.  A Single Equality Bill is being drafted to replace 116 pieces of legislations that have been developed piecemeal to hold employers accountable for their anti-discrimination policies. The most controversial proposal would see big companies and public sector bodies required to produce annual "equality audits" of the number of staff they employ from disadvantaged groups.
  
  
• March 10 - Venezuelan Millionaire Gives Details into Corrupt Business Class. In recent interviews with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, a Venezuelan multimillionaire who was arrested on charges of bribery and money laundering gave rare insight into the inner-workings of newly rich, often corrupt business class with connections to Hugo Chavez’s government, reported The Wall Street Journal.  The multimillionaire, Franklin Duran, was arrested in Miami for transporting a cash-stuffed suitcase to an Argentine airport from Venezuela, allegedly to be used for the presidential campaign of Argentina's Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.  
  
  
• March 9 – Nike Report Shows Concern over Chinese Labor Law Deficiencies. The Financial Times reported workers at Nike’s contract factories in China do not enjoy the same protection as their peers elsewhere because of “gaps” in the country’s labor laws, according to the global footwear giant.  Nike has produced a report as part of a larger effort to increase the transparency of its operations in China – where the company sources 35 per cent of its footwear – before this summer’s Olympic games in Beijing.
  
  
• March 7 - Exec Salary Hikes Featured in Wall Street Journal. The boards of Toll Brothers Inc. and KB Home are finding ways to grant sizable bonuses to their chief executives, even as the home builders' share prices and profits languish, WSJ reported.  The compensation committee has come up with a new bonus plan based on an undisclosed, set of criteria which could significantly increase their salaries.  This comes after Ford Motor Co. announced it will pay bonuses to all hourly and salaried workers despite its losses, in part to avoid any bitterness among the rank and file.  Another WSJ article said General Motors Corp. gave Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner a 33% raise for 2008 and equity compensation of at least $1.68 million for his performance in 2007, a year for which the auto maker reported a loss of $38.7 billion.
   
• March 5 - Corruption Allegations Against Zardari Dropped. A Pakistani court dropped five corruption cases against Benazir Bhutto’s widower, Asif Ali Zardari, who is also leader of the opposition party that won last month's parliamentary elections, reported The Associated Press.  He became known among Pakistanis by the nickname "Mr. Ten Percent" for allegedly pocketing kickbacks during the 1990s when his wife was in office.  There are two other outstanding corruption cases against Zardari in Pakistan, which Naek and government prosecutor Zulfikar Ahmad Bhutta said would likely be dropped next week. A money-laundering case is still pending against Zardari in Switzerland.
  
  
• March 5 - WaMu Approves Plan to Protect Exec Bonuses. Washington Mutual’s board committee said in light of the challenging business environment and the need to evaluate performance across a wide range of factors it will take a three-step approach to rewarding its executives including subjectively evaluating company performance in credit risk management, Reuters reported.  The plan will help protect its management's bonus targets from the impact of the subprime loan fallout.
  
  
• March 5 – Siemens’ Amnesty Program Generating Results, Company Says. General Counsel at Siemens said the employee amnesty program, which was offered to all employees except 300 top executives, prompted about 110 employees to offer information about alleged wrongdoing, The Wall Street Journal reported. The German engineering company has identified €1.3 billion in suspicious transactions between 2000 and 2006, in what could prove to be the biggest corporate-bribery case ever, but has yet to publicly name top executives who facilitated illicit payments.
  
  
• March 4 - Legal Challenge Issued to the European Parliament over Secret Expenses. The Daily Telegraph has obtained details of a letter sent by a secretive "bureau" of senior MEPs that refuses to publish details of how individual members have benefited from publicly-funded allowances, amounting to £180 million a year.  The argument is expected to generate controversy by linking future publication of MEP allowances to the practices of countries such as Bulgaria or Romania, new member states regularly criticised for corruption in EU reports.
  
  
• March 4 - Corruption Leads to Downfall of Australian City Council. The New South Wales Premier dissolved the Wollongong Council, governing body of the third biggest city in the state, at the request of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, reported The Australian. All elected officials were kicked out on allegations of bribery and corruption, and three appointed officials will govern until 2012.
  
  
• March 3 - Argentine Companies Now Required to Produce Sustainability Reports. Companies in Argentina with more than 300 employees will now have to produce annual sustainability reports based on their social, economic, and financial sustainability, the Global Reporting Initiative reports.  Companies of less than 300 employees will also be persuaded to voluntarily adhere to the upcoming reporting guidelines. In return for their transparency they will be eligible for financial benefits, such as promotional soft loans and technological investment incentives.
  
  
  

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