Richard Cellini Vice President Integrity Interactive

Integrity Interactive  a company that helps leading global corporations manage and reduce the risk of compliance failures, today announced the results of the 2007 version of its groundbreaking study on the Top 12 corporate compliance concerns faced by global companies. For the first time, Anti-Bribery topped the list of crucial concerns addressed by corporate America. Joining Anti-Bribery at the top of the list are concerns about Records Management and Antitrust Contact with Competitors. Five concerns that appeared on the 2006 list fell off the list in 2007: Confidentiality, Insider Trading, Sarbanes Oxley & Business Controls, and Workplace Violence.
 
The Integrity Interactive study analyzed the actual compliance-training records of more than 2.8 million employees, from more than 400 companies, who completed online ethics and compliance courses chosen from a list of more than 150 topics. The companies surveyed operate globally and fall into three size categories: mid-sized (1,000 to 10,000 employees), large (10,000 to 90,000 employees); and very large (more than 90,000 employees).
 
Online training is emerging as the preferred method for communicating ethics and compliance policies and best practices to employees worldwide. Many organizations require that employees take and pass Integrity’s online ethics courses, providing compliance officers, CFOs and general counsel with a dependable audit trail of their efforts to educate staff on ethics and compliance matters. Integrity’s Top 12 study analyzes the course-completion rates across its customers and provides a ranking of the most popular training courses, while also illustrating issues of growing concern.
 
“From tainted meat recalls, bribing foreign officials or lead paint in toys, to the theft of corporate intellectual property or data breaches at mainstream retailers, there is a never-ending list of issues which today’s executive must worry about,” said Richard J. Cellini, a vice president at Integrity Interactive and a member of the New York Bar. “Integrity’s research confirms that companies take ethics and compliance matters seriously and understand that one of the best ways to remain scandal-free is to implement quality training of employees and suppliers.”

The Leading Corporate Ethics and Compliance Concerns in 2007:
Anti-Bribery Requirements: The top compliance-training topic covered by major corporations today, Anti-Bribery aims to help companies avoid the difficulties of organizations under investigation for charges relating to official corruption.
Records Management: Electronic discovery rules enacted in the past few years have placed increasing burdens on corporations to establish, enforce, and document comprehensive records retention programs.

Antitrust Contact with Competitors: Illustrates the importance of educating executives, frequently those in sales and marketing, about not engaging in practices that could reduce competition or consumer choice.
 
New, additional growing concerns appeared in 2007, including: Careful Communication and Export Controls. Straight from today’s headlines, Product Safety and Liability became a very hot topic as more and more companies grapple with supply chain nightmares such as those faced by Mattel.
 
As these new areas of company concern arose, there were a few traditional issues that did not make it to the top this year, as opposed to other years. They include: Confidentiality, Insider Trading, Sarbanes-Oxley and Business Controls, and Workplace Violence. These four issues are still of significant concern to global companies today. However, their absence from the 2007 Top 12 list shows the importance of other critical business concerns.
 
Company size influenced risk-management priorities. Very large corporations (90,000+ employees) made Records Management their leading priority. Large (10,000 to 90,000 employees) and mid-sized (1,000 to 10,000 employees) companies made Mutual Respect their top priority for the second year in a row (closely followed by Antitrust Contact with Competitors). Notably, Anti-Bribery appears among the Top 3 most-popular training priorities for companies in all size categories.
 
The Full 2007 Top 12 Corporate Ethics and Compliance Concerns:
 

1. Anti-Bribery Requirements
2. Records Management 
3. Antitrust Contact with Competitors 
4. Mutual Respect 
5. Privacy 
6. Financial Integrity 
7. Conflicts of Interest and Gifts 
8. Careful Communication 
9. Proper Use of Computers 
10. Information Security 
11. Export Controls 
12. Product Safety and Liability
    

Integrity Interactive helps leading companies and large organizations build ethical cultures that reduce risk. We design, develop, and deliver programs and services that mitigate risk in three areas: compliance, ethics, and corporate responsibility. Our comprehensive culture-building and risk reduction services include: Strategy and Assessment; Training and Communication; and Measurement and Reporting.
 
Integrity Interactive works with hundreds of the world’s greatest companies, and serves millions of employees on six continents.

For more information go to www.integrity-interactive.com