Welcome!
    AZB & Partners is glad to invite
    you to the white-collar crime
    survey of 2023.

    Survey theme

    We at AZB & Partners would like to understand, from industry participants, experiences and perceptions on certain matters concerning white-collar crimes in India – and are hence launching this survey to gather your insights and opinions. We believe that your participation in this survey will help us to better appreciate overall industry feedback on the impact of white-collar crimes on businesses. We assure you that your responses will only be used for purposes of compiling (and subsequent publication/dissemination of) our aggregate findings across participants, and no individual attribution would be made.

    Respondents’ details

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    Change in business ethos

    1.1 Have you witnessed
    any changes in the way business is
    conducted in India over the last decade?
    Especially in relation to how ethical considerations are integrated with businesses

    Additional comments (if any):

    1.2 Have you
    seen a change in India when it
    comes to dealing with situations involving
    bribery and corruption ? Please provide your views in the comment box.

    Additional comments (if any):

    1.3Are the changes more visible in a particular category of organisations? If
    yes, which of the following?

    Additional comments (if any):

    Whistle-blowing mechanism – importance and use

    2.1 Do you believe that the use of whistle-blowing mechanism in India is a significant driver in unearthing ethical issues ?

    Additional comments (if any):

    2.2Roughly, what percentage of
    whistle-blower complaints in your organisation are
    genuine and lead to genuine discovery
    of unethical practice?

    Additional comments (if any):

    2.3Do you believe increased emphasis on and
    use of whistle-blowing mechanism in India
    has decreased fraudulent activity?

    Additional comments (if any):

    2.4Do you believe that people are now more
    open and forthcoming in making
    complaints and raising red flags against ethical issues?

    Additional comments (if any):

    2.5Do you believe that the individuals who
    raise such complaints prefer to stay
    anonymous or are now more confident in disclosing their
    identity and source?

    Additional comments (if any):

    2.6What whistle-blowing mechanism does
    your organisation have?

    Additional comments (if any):

    2.7Has the use of whistle-blowing mechanism
    for lodging complaints increased in your
    organisation?

    Additional comments (if any):

    2.8Has your organisation
    increased its investment (in terms of time
    and resources) towards whistle-blower
    mechanism, and on training and encouraging personnel to use the same?

    Additional comments (if any):

    2.9What is your organisation’s attitude
    towards anonymous/pseudonymous
    whistle-blower complaints?

    Additional comments (if any):

    Factors pushing the ethics and compliance culture

    3.1 What according to you are the top two
    important push factors that are driving the
    ethics and compliance culture in India?

    Additional comments (if any):

    3.2 What are the top 3 things that you see
    being pushed in the domain of ethics and
    compliance?

    Additional comments (if any):

    Impact of changes to laws on ethics and compliance matters

    4.1What has been the most important
    regulation?

    Additional comments (if any):

    4.2 What according to you are the important
    legal developments that are driving
    changes in ethics and compliance culture?

    Additional comments (if any):

    4.3 How are organisations reacting to the
    enhanced disclosure regime under various
    laws and regulations?

    Additional comments (if any):

    Impact of enforcement actions by enforcement agencies on fraud and corruption

    5.1 Do you believe that recent enforcement actions taken by various investigating/enforcement agencies like Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate, Serious Fraud Investigation Office, Securities and Exchange Board of India, etc. are sufficient to curb the menace of fraud and corruption in India?

    Additional comments (if any):

    5.2 What according to you are the
    shortcomings in the current investigation
    and legal framework when it comes to
    prosecuting white collar crimes?

    Additional comments (if any):

    Matters relating to investigation by regulatory authorities

    6.1 Do you believe the investigative agencies in India are adequately equipped to handle complex financial crimes in terms of relevant skills sets, subject matter specialists and technology?

    Additional comments (if any):

    6.2 Do you believe that the investigative agencies in India have access to better information (financial and compliance) and in a time bound manner?

    Additional comments (if any):

    6.3 Do you believe that
    inter agency coordination has increased in
    India when it comes to sharing of
    information?

    Additional comments (if any):

    Risks for board of directors and management

    7.1 Do you believe that compliance and
    regulatory risks to management
    and directors have increased during last
    five years in relation to matters concerning
    ethics and compliance failures?

    Additional comments (if any):

    7.2 Do you believe that the management and
    directors of companies have become more
    conscious about ensuring compliance and
    ethical way of doing business?

    Additional comments (if any):

    7.3 Do you believe that the current legal
    framework is sufficient to deal with
    instances of management and board
    failures in matters concerning non-
    compliance/fraudulent acts?

    Additional comments (if any):

    7.4 What are the important elements to create a safety net for directors to protect them from legal risks arising from actions of employees and third parties?

    Additional comments (if any):

    Impact of responsibilities on statutory auditors on matters concerning frauds

    8.1 Are the statutory auditors
    in India taking appropriate audit steps to
    flag off suspicious transactions and
    potentially fraudulent situations?

    Additional comments (if any):

    8.2 Do you believe the current regulatory
    framework around auditor’s report and
    disclosures by auditors are sufficient to
    disclose frauds, and potentially deter
    fraudulent behaviour?

    Additional comments (if any):

    8.3 Do you believe that the responsibilities
    cast upon auditors are sufficient to deal
    with the risk of fraud and corruption?

    Additional comments (if any):

    8.4 Do you believe that actions by regulatory
    authorities against the statutory auditors
    have led to statutory auditors being more
    conservative in their audit and audit
    reporting?

    Additional comments (if any):

    Impact of enhanced reporting and disclosure regime

    9.1 Do you believe the enhanced disclosures
    of financial and other information in
    public domain has an impact on improving ethics and compliance culture?

    Additional comments (if any):

    9.2 Do you believe that disclosure of related
    party transactions is adequately regulated
    in India?

    Additional comments (if any):

    9.3 Do you think the existing legal framework is sufficient to mandate that organisations are transparent and provide sufficient disclosures to various stakeholders?

    Additional comments (if any):

    9.4 According to you, which are the top three information categories that should be more transparent and require more disclosures?

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    9.5 Which of these factors are the most susceptible to matters concerning company fraud and corruption?

    Additional comments (if any):

    Impact of mainstream media and social media

    10.1 Do you believe social media and
    mainstream media have power to influence
    an investigation?

    Additional comments (if any):

    10.2 Do you believe that Indian companies
    have a clear social media outreach strategy
    to deal with situations of regulatory
    investigations and allegations made in
    public domain?

    Additional comments (if any):

    10.3 Are Indian companies more reactive or
    proactive when it comes to dealing with
    allegations in social media?

    Additional comments (if any):

    10.4 Do you believe the stories of fraud and corruption coming out in social media to be fake news or motivated news?

    Additional comments (if any):

    Fraud and Corruption, Ethics and Compliance – the ESG agenda

    11.1 With the importance of Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) multiplying every day, do you believe Indian companies are ready to accept "doing the right thing" and "doing business in an ethical and compliant manner"?

    Additional comments (if any):

    11.2 As part of the ‘governance’ pillar of ESG, how important are aspects relating to preventing, detecting and remediating fraud and corruption, and improvement in ethics and compliance culture?

    Additional comments (if any):

    Internal investigations

    12.1 Do you believe Indian
    companies have sufficient capabilities to
    undertake internal investigations?

    Additional comments (if any):

    12.2 Are internal
    investigations conducted by Indian
    companies comparable with global best
    practices of conducting investigations?

    Additional comments (if any):

    12.3 Do Indian companies focus on protecting attorney-client privilege while undertaking internal investigations, especially those that may have regulatory implications?

    Additional comments (if any):