News and Views
Media Coverage

Microsoft Offers Details into Reported Corruption Probe

Compliance Week

According to the Wall Street Journal, U.S. authorities are investigating Microsoft over a bribery and corruption matter in Hungary, some details of which the company shared with Compliance Week.

[...]

As a broader legal and compliance matter, “the use of third parties acting on behalf of companies in the development of business internationally continues to be an ‘Achilles heel’ for global companies,” said Shawn Wright with law firm Blank Rome. “Retaining third parties requires a robust level of due diligence, similar to the due diligence required in conducting M&A transactions.”

“Companies must not only conduct the due diligence before the relationship begins, but they must ensure that they obtain certifications of compliance and provide training to those that act on their behalf,” Wright adds. “Most importantly, companies must ensure that the agreements with third parties contain audit rights and that the company exercises those audit rights periodically, especially if the third party is developing business with government agencies.”

"Microsoft Offers Details into Reported Corruption Probe," by Jaclyn Jaeger was published in Compliance Week on August 24, 2018.