India most aware when it comes to identifying bribery and corruption: Kroll survey

India is one of the most self-aware countries when it comes to identifying bribery and corruption risk, Kroll, a corporate investigations and risk consulting firm, said in a survey.

Four in ten (39%) respondents in India ranked their own region of Asia Pacific (APAC) as the most vulnerable to incidents of bribery and corruption, Kroll survey said.

This comes at a time when India like many countries dabbled with the after effects of Covid pandemic. Industry trackers say that the pandemic has had a huge impact on the corporate governance of several companies.


“It has been a difficult year for corporates facing threats from all angles and bearing the impact of COVID-19. While many firms have bolstered defences against bribery and corruption with proactive measures, the data also highlights that a large proportion of respondents in India,” said Tarun Bhatia, Managing Director and Head of South Asia, Forensic Investigations and Intelligence, Kroll.

The survey said that 83% respondents still feel corruption and unlawful activity have a significant impact on their organisation.

“Lack of visibility over third parties (47%), employees’ actions (20%) and weaknesses in record-keeping (33%) are typical vulnerabilities, which suggest that no matter how strong the compliance programs in place are, if the human element isn’t addressed, illicit behaviour will continue to prevail and go undetected,” said Bhatia.

Companies in India have bolstered their defences against bribery and corruption risk, and around 81% respondents believe that sufficient board-level attention and investment is given to bribery and corruption risk, well above the global average (72%). A majority (92%) also said their organizations used data analytics to proactively identify bribery and corruption risk, again higher than the global average (86%), Kroll’s Global Fraud and Risk Report said.