Back in 2004, the UN Global Compact summit announced its Tenth Principle against corruption.

So why are there still so many such cases?



This week's dog was Bayou, the scandal-plagued hedge fund group that failed last year after losing hundreds of millions of investor dollars in a massive fraud. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

A report published by the United Nation's Global Compact, Business Against Corruption, details what companies can do to fight graft. While some of the focus is on foreign corrupt activity, the 10th Principle ("Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery") is broad enough to cover domestic corruption.

The paper provides the business case for not engaging in corruption (legal risks, reputation risks, financial costs, avoiding "repeat" demands and blackmail etc) and provides steps showing what companies can do to fight it, from codes of ethics to monitoring the system.

The site also provides some handy links.