World-Check challenges TI Bribe Payers Index

Challenging last month’s Bribe Payers Index (BPI), by Transparency International, World-Check, a political risk monitoring company, released their own indicator of the riskiest countries. The results differed significantly from the BPI.

World-Check compiled a list of countries that their clients most frequently request detailed background checks on, indicating that they (the clients) suspect them to be corrupt.

India, which was ranked 9th in the BPI, turned out to be the second most screened country in World-Check’s index.

Brazil, also in the top five most screened markest according to World-Check, is only considered the 15^th most likely to have businesses that offer bribes, according to Transparency International.

On the other hand, some countries appearing prominently in the BPI - namely Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Taiwan and South Africa - were completely ignored by World-Check’s clients.

Some of these differences may be attributed to the fact that many of the countries considered “most likely to bribe” by TI are not key trading markets for the worlds more developed economies.

However, it is “a matter of concern that the so-called BRIC countries, often seen as key markets for future growth prospects, appear prominently on both lists”, said World-Check.

World-Check’s head of enhanced due diligence, Rob Mitchell, said: “The list of countries which our clients most frequently ask us to investigate for them illustrates that businesses are looking beyond just perceptions of country-risk and are actively evaluating the value of the relationships and business opportunities they have in certain jurisdictions.

“No one is suggesting that entering a business relationship in South Korea, Singapore or the United Arab Emirates in inherently more risky than in Russia, China or Mexico for example.  However it is clear that sensible companies are undertaking due diligence measures in the markets where they are seriously considering investing or concentrating business effort.”