Mail & Guardian Online reports that global mining, oil and gas company BHP Billiton is working to stem corporate corruption in-house and among its local business associates – who received in early January an “anti-corruption expectations” notification from Billiton.
The document, which requires signed acknowledgement of receipt, summarises the company’s anti-corruption policy, which bans everything such as “gifts, travel, entertainment, meals or other things of value” that might improperly influence a government official to “facilitation payments”, defined as “small payments made to government officials to expedite routine actions”.
BHP Billiton SA spokesperson Johnny Dladla said the company’s code of conduct and internal policies prohibit corruption. “Specifically, our policies specify risk assessment and due diligence requirements for engaging business partners who interact with others on our behalf,” he said. Although the action is commendable, experts say that moves such as these by large multinationals are because of tougher international legislation, such as the United Kingdom’s Bribery Act, introduced last year, and The United States’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), introduced in the late 1970s, are being enforced more actively.
