Luis Ramos CEO The Network

The Network, Inc., a leading provider of governance, risk and compliance (GRC) solutions, and BDO Consulting, a leading provider of litigation, investigation, restructuring and risk advisory services, has announced the fourth quarter 2012 findings in the Quarterly Corporate Fraud Index, a comprehensive examination of fraud reporting activity from almost 15 million employees worldwide.

For the fourth quarter of 2012, the Fraud Reporting Percentage (FRP) decreased slightly from the previous quarter to 24.6 percent, following the record-high for fraud reporting set in the third quarter of the year, when the FRP stood at 25.0 percent. The FRP statistic measures fraud reporting in comparison to all compliance reporting activity from more than 1,400 organizations worldwide, including nearly half of the Fortune 500. The fourth quarter 2012 Corporate Fraud Index also includes the Fraud Related Incidents (FRI) statistic, which measures the volume of fraud-related calls.

Other key fourth quarter 2012 findings include the following:

• FRP increased 3.0 percentage points – from 21.6 to 24.6 percent – compared with the same quarter in 2011, representing a 13.9 percent rise
• FRP declined by a marginal 0.4 percent from the third quarter 2012
• FRI increased significantly – up 17.6 percent – compared to the same quarter in 2011
• FRI (fraud related reports) decreased 8.9 percent from the third quarter 2012

"Unfortunately, fraud and corporate malfeasance continue to threaten the workplace, in terms of revenue, reputation and employee morale," said Luis Ramos, CEO of the Network. "While the upward trend in fraud reporting at first may seem alarming, it’s important to remember that organizations are working harder than ever to engage their employees to recognize bad behavior and to make them feel confident about their options to report this activity."

Fourth quarter comparisons of FRP for the past eight years are as follows:
    •    4Q 2005 = 11.6%
    •    4Q 2006 = 13.3%
    •    4Q 2007 = 13.0%
    •    4Q 2008 = 18.9%
    •    4Q 2009 = 20.2%
    •    4Q 2010 = 19.6%
    •    4Q 2011 = 21.6%
    •    4Q 2012 = 24.6%

Fourth quarter comparisons of FRI for the past eight years are as follows:
    •    4Q 2005 = 2822
    •    4Q 2006 = 3937
    •    4Q 2007 = 4478
    •    4Q 2008 = 5392
    •    4Q 2009 = 5804
    •    4Q 2010 = 5915
    •    4Q 2011 = 6816
    •    4Q 2012 = 8018

"Despite incentives from regulators for employees and others to report malfeasance directly to regulators, the volume of internal reporting pertaining to fraud continues to rise," said Glenn Pomerantz, partner at BDO Consulting and a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Fraud Examiner.

The Quarterly Corporate Fraud Index is compiled from actual incidents reported by clients of The Network and is analyzed by The Network and BDO Consulting. Fraud-related incidents reflected in the Fraud Index include reports on corruption, theft, accounting and audit irregularities, misuse of assets, conflicts of interest, and violations of FCPA, UK anti-bribery and SEC legislation.

The Network is a leading provider of integrated governance, risk and compliance (GRC) solutions that allow organizations to create better workplaces and ethical cultures. The Network’s Integrated GRC Suite, recognized as the "Apple of GRC" by GRC 20/20, is the first natively integrated enterprise GRC software platform in the compliance industry. The Suite was built to leverage the way employees retain and apply ethics and compliance information and helps companies prevent, detect and remediate non-compliance and unethical conduct. A SaaS-based technology solution, the Suite integrates policy management, training and communications, code of conduct, surveys and assessments and case management, all on a reporting and analytics platform. Originally established as the first whistleblower hotline provider in 1982, The Network serves thousands of organizations in every industry, including nearly half of the Fortune 500.

BDO Consulting provides litigation, investigation, business restructuring and risk advisory services to clients in the United States and internationally. Their highly experienced and well-credentialed professionals leverage the global industry and accounting knowledge of the BDO international network, providing rapid, strategic advice to assist their clients.

BDO Consulting is a division of BDO USA, LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership and the U.S. member of BDO International Limited. BDO International Limited is a UK company limited by guarantee, and forms part of the international BDO network of independent member firms. BDO is the brand name for the BDO network and for each of the BDO Member Firms.