
Anti-corruption Legislation
GC investigates anti-corruption measures across South America as the continent comes to terms with a series of scandals that have turned an increasingly intense spotlight on murky business practices, ushering in a new era of compliance.
It’s been a turbulent few years for many of those in the upper echelons of Brazilian politics and business. Around the world, headlines have been filled with salacious tales of corruption, perhaps most notably the bribery and kickback scandal emanating from semi-state-owned oil company Petrobras, embroiling many high-profile individuals and entities across the region.
Anti-corruption legislation and regulation enacted in the past five years – the so-called 2014 Clean Company Act, fully implemented in 2015 amid public unrest by the soon-to-be-impeached President Rousseff – has enabled the country to usher in a new era of compliance, the efficacy of which has left many in the business community reeling. The judge-led ‘Lava Jato’ (‘Carwash’) investigation, started in 2014, is perhaps the most recognisable herald of this new era.