Companies at high risk of becoming involved in bribery have been given
until next July to comply with criteria that will determine whether
they are eligible for the FTSE4Good index.
The criteria, announced last month by index provider FTSE, require high
risk businesses to have a policy on bribery in place by 1 July this
year, then to have systems to implement that policy by 1 January 2007
and to report publicly on their performance by 1 July next year.
Companies deemed to be high risk by FTSE are those in sectors where
bribery is more common, such as oil and gas or aerospace, that also
operate in countries identified by Transparency International as
failing to bear down on corruption (such as Nigeria, Mexico and
Uzbekistan), and are additionally involved in contracts with
governments.
Companies in sectors deemed to have a slightly lower, but still high,
level of risk will have an extra year to meet the criteria. Others will
not have to comply for the time being, although FTSE will turn its
attention to them in 2007.
Around 200 companies already in the index are high risk, and FTSE
estimates that only a third of those currently meet the criteria.
