Scandals show the need for regulatory oversight
The recent wave of global financial scandals has demonstrated the importance of compliance and regulatory overseeing, said Richard Dailly, managing director of international consulting firm Kroll Advisory Solutions.
He made the comment in response to a question about the series of scandals that has rocked the banking world since the 2008 global financial crisis.
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation was recently accused by a US Senate committee of involvement in money-laundering, while British financial authorities found Barclays Bank to have been involved in manipulating the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate, or Libor.
The scandal forced three executives of Barclay to resign, while HSBC’s head of compliance, |David Bagley, quit over the scandal there.
Dailly said Kroll made use of a global network of specialists in fraud investigation to support clients trying to determine whether fraud has been committed in the organisation or by counterparties or third parties.
Based in Singapore, Dailly was visiting Bangkok to meet Thai corporations that want to expand into other Asean countries including Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Malaysia, Laos and Cambodia.
Proper preparation by companies makes their investments more cost-effective, the consultant said, adding that his firm provided services such as due diligence and assessed specific risks such as those associated with the mining and oil-and-gas industries. When firms invest in other countries they could face fraud problems when acquiring land and licences or making deals with vendors and suppliers, he said.
Many Thai companies are now at the stage where they are capable of expanding their business. The trend in Thailand is similar to that in India, where over the past five years local firms have expanded overseas, Dailly said. Previously, India was primarily a recipient of foreign direct investment.
