A Corruption Risk Index

There are several corruption-risk indexes — the Corruption Perceptions Index from Transparency International, TRACE’s Bribery Risk Matrix, the Corruption Risk Forecast from the European Research Centre for Anti-Corruption and Statebuilding — and the index that Richard L. Cassin recently put together based on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act-related investigations data. His source is FCPA Tracker, a sister site of the FCPA Blog, where the above-referenced article appears. His data includes all companies with disclosed FCPA-related investigations since January 1, 2017, and all countries mentioned in relevant company disclosures and agency releases. His methodology expands from there to rate countries for the corruption danger they pose. Brazil is a runaway first, China a distant but still strong second, trailed closely by Mexico and Saudi Arabia. The field bunches up at that point. According to Cassin, it shows patterns relevant to risk-based compliance decisions.