(a) investigate the role of lawyers in international transactions affected by corruption;
(b) raise awareness among legal professionals about the devastating effects that may result from this crime; and
(c) promote the highest standards to prevent corruption in this profession.
As part of this Strategy, an exclusive “Anti-Corruption Workshop for
Legal Professionals” was held with the support of Bar Council at 9:00 am
to 1:00 pm, at the Bar Council Auditorium, on 13 May 2011 (Friday).
The interactive workshop, which was intended for senior lawyers, focused
on delivering an introduction to the international anti-corruption
framework, exposing the risks and threats that corruption poses to legal
professionals, and sharing ideas and methods to enable firms to meet
the highest anti-corruption compliance standards.
Christopher Leong, Vice-President of the Malaysian Bar, highlighted in his opening remarks that the fight against corruption required not just stringent laws and public support, but also strong institutions like the Judiciary, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission,
Polis DiRaja Malaysia, Attorney General’s Chambers, Securities Commission Malaysia and
Bank Negara. He added that Bar Council, “as a national institution charged with upholding the cause of justice without fear or favour”, took a deep interest in the health and efficacy of these institutions tasked to fight corruption.
The workshop was divided into three sessions conducted by qualified and able speakers. The sessions were moderated by Gonzalo Guzmán, a Senior Staff Lawyer at IBA in London.
The first session, themed “International Corruption: General Aspects and Global Legal Framework”, was conducted by Nicola Bonucci, Director of Legal Affairs, OECD, Paris. Nicola Bonucci gave an overview of what corruption is, its various types, why it happens and how it can be overcome by way of international anti-corruption conventions, implementation of national legislation and internal controls, ethics and compliance programmes. He concluded the session on a high note with an illuminating quote by Barack Obama, President of the United States, “People everywhere should have the right to start business or get an education without paying a bribe”.
Richard Tollan, a partner in the legal firm of Mayer Brown in Hong Kong, led the following session on “The International Anti-Corruption Framework and the Legal Profession”. The session revolved around applicable anti-corruption laws and their impact on legal practitioners. The session also featured Ratha Kirushnan s/o K Rajaretnam, a Member of the Bar, who offered his knowledge on the topic within the local context. This session concluded with a case study exercise that enabled participants to forge a better understanding of anti-corruption through the immediate application of newly-acquired knowledge.
The presentation for the final session, themed “Avoiding Corruption”, was delivered by Rocco deGrasse, Principal at the Investigative and Integrity Advisory Services, KPMG LLP, Chicago. The session looked into approaches and methodologies that could be applied to avoid corruption. Kim Chaun Tan, Head of Forensics, KPMG, Kuala Lumpur, also offered his expertise.
Overall, the workshop was informative and deemed to be a success. Participants remarked that the presentation style utilised by the speakers was “engaging” and “excellent”. The workshop ended with a “networking lunch” that enabled participants to interact and exchange ideas not only amongst themselves, but with the speakers as well.
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