Asian companies’ attitudes towards fraud, bribery and corruption display schizophrenic tendencies. Although the vast majority support tighter controls and more regulatory supervision, many are quite happy to engage in activities that might send their senior officers to jail.
According to Ernst Young’s latest annual Global Fraud Survey, 82% of respondents in Asia are in favour of greater supervision, yet compared with their peers elsewhere in the world, those senior executives including 400 CFOs are more prepared to spend money on bribes or even misstate their companies’ financial performance.
The survey, which was released this morning, was conducted between November 2011 and February 2012. More than...