Business Day Article: SA-based firm wins antigraft contract.

Algoa FM Radio Article: SA-based firm wins antigraft contract.

PASCO Risk Management, a global risk consultancy with a head office in SA, was recently awarded a large anti-corruption contract by the US justice department to stamp out corruption in more than 25 countries in the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa.

“The contract for due- diligence investigation is to be carried out on US companies under the US Foreign Corrupt Activities Act,” Pasco CEO George Nicholls said yesterday.

Nicholls said US firms wanting to do business in foreign markets had to be familiar with the provisions of the legislation.

The act prohibits corrupt payments to foreign officials for the purpose of obtaining or keeping business. The act was signed into law by president Jimmy Carter in 1977 and subsequently amended in 1998.

The act also applies to foreign firms and individuals who take any action in furthering a fraudulent payment while in the US.

The law also requires that companies whose securities are listed in the US meet its accounting provisions, including making and keeping records that accurately reflect the transactions of the corporation, and to institute and maintain an adequate internal accounting controls system.

Nicholls said the economic downturn had had an effect on companies’ profits. As a result, there was increasing scrutiny on expenditure. “We are seeing an uptake in due diligence inquiries and asset tracing,” he said.