THE Covid-19 pandemic has driven businesses into fast-tracking their commercial operations for the sake of recovery and sustainability. This puts them at greater risk of unethical and illegal conduct, which could result in severe operational disruption, legal and regulatory issues along with reputational damage.
One of the key developments in the business sector was the enforcement of the Corporate Liability Provision, Section 17A of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 (MACC Act 2009) in June 2020. This provision places liability on organisations and their stewards for the actions of persons associated with them who give, promise to give or offer any form of gratification to another party with the corrupt intent of receiving a commercial benefit or advantage in return.