Bribe, Swindle or Steal

Nicola Bonucci, an Associate Professor at Paris Cité and former General Counsel of the OECD, shares insights from his 25 years of anti-bribery expertise. He discusses the evolution of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, highlighting shifts in enforcement dynamics and the U.S.'s fluctuating role. Nicola warns of rising risks for companies amid evolving political landscapes and nebulous guidance on business practices. He emphasizes the importance of strong compliance programs as multijurisdictional enforcement becomes more common, particularly with new alliances forming in the UK, France, and beyond.

Joel Bakan joins the podcast to discuss his books, and the films based on them. He outlines the fundamental conflict inherent in companies ostensibly committed to ESG principles while simultaneously driven by a legal requirement to maximize shareholder value. This episode was originally published on 14 July 2021.

Michael Forsythe, co-author with Walt Bogdanich of "When McKinsey Comes to Town", joins the podcast to talk about McKinsey's work in support of autocratic regimes, its rampant conflicts of interest and the distance between its stated values and its work on the ground. This episode was originally published on 18 January 2023.

Speaking at the 2022 TRACE London Forum, Oliver Bullough, author of Butler to the World, discusses the UK's role as an enabler of financial crime, efforts toward accountability, the balance between transparency and privacy, and the weaponization of lawsuits in British courts to silence journalists. This episode was originally published on 26 October 2022.

Richard Conway, former BBC Sport correspondent turned investigative partner at SPECTACLE, outlines the sprawling Russian state-sponsored doping scandal. He recounts the ARD exposé, Rodchenkov’s whistleblowing and the Sochi lab scheme. He discusses tamper-proof bottle findings, WADA versus IOC tensions, CAS legal reversals, and the wider threat to sport credibility.

Declan Hill discusses the pervasive and sinister nature of match-fixing and how we can prevent sport from being turned into theater. This episode was originally published on 2 August 2017.

In this episode, we hear from Leonid Volkov, who spoke at the 2022 TRACE London Forum. Leonid, former Chief of Staff to Alexei Navalny and current Political Director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF), discussed the role of corruption in Putin's Russia, as well as the impact of sanctions and the toll that rampant corruption is taking on the country. This episode was originally published on 5 October 2022.

Here's our conversation with Bill Browder from the 2022 TRACE London Forum. Bill discusses his book Freezing Order and his ongoing quest for accountability and justice following the abuse and murder of his lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky. This episode was originally published on 28 September 2022.

Sally Dennis, former President of Rugby Canada and current Canadian representative on the Council of World Rugby, describes her role in the professionalization of sports governance, where challenges remain—​ and rugby's arguably unique invulnerability to match fixing! This episode was originally published on 17 July 2024.

Ken Bensinger, award-winning investigative reporter, author and Pulitzer Prize finalist, discusses his fascinating book, Red Card, and the decades of misconduct by FIFA eventually uncovered by the FBI. We play "violation bingo" as Ken describes the bribery, self-dealing, conflicts of interest and money-laundering that were business as usual at FIFA. This episode was originally published on 27 June 2018.