One-Man Fraud Squad No Longer the Most Effective Way to Fight Corruption

GUEST BLOGGER

James D. Ratley
ACFE President and CEO

As I’ve found throughout my career, professional synergy has enormous value. When I was a young investigator on the Dallas police force, attending college part-time to get my accounting degree, one person described me as a “one-man fraud squad.” That may sound impressive, but it’s not the most effective way to fight corruption. In those pre-ACFE days, though, there were no other options. But no longer is that the case. Perhaps the best illustration of this is the upcoming 2011 ACFE European Fraud Conference, April 17-19.

For the first time in recent years, the ACFE will host the conference on the Continent itself, fittingly in Brussels, capital of the European Union. There’s excitement in the air about this gathering, and with good reason.

Fraud fighters from all over the world will come to rub shoulders and share thoughts with representatives of some of the biggest players in the government and industry. In short, this ACFE conference is your best source of insight on complying with the complex web of regional and national anti-fraud laws and regulations. And you won’t find a better opportunity to build rewarding relationships with your peers.

Sharing their anti-fraud experience and practical compliance insights with you will be officials from the European Commission and regulators from other global regions. Joining them will be an equally international group of corporate leaders sharing the fraud-fighting techniques they’ve found particularly effective in the worldwide marketplace. Plus, you’ll hear from Jeffrey Robinson, author of some of the most widely read works on fraud.

As the go-live date for the U.K. Bribery Act nears, you want to know how it will interact with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Anti-Bribery Convention. That’s what the European Conference will tell you.

Sessions such as Globalization of Fraud and the Need for Fraud Examiner Cooperation; Fraud Investigations in Germany, France, and the UK; The Protection of the Financial Interests of the EU; and Pitfalls of Investigating Fraud in Russia will provide practical insights for your immediate use.

And with the UK Bribery Act scheduled to take effect as soon as certain of its provisions are clarified, the conference session titled, The UK Bribery Act of 2010: A Fraud Practitioner’s Perspective will focus you on the Act’s most controversial aspects and how to prepare for their resolution by legislators and regulators.

Of equal practical value will be the pre-conference session, The Global Challenges of Fighting Bribery and Corruption, which assesses the FCPA’s, the UK Bribery Act’s and OECD’s requirements and explains how various kinds of affected entities can best meet them.

I, my fellow speakers, and the ACFE will make the 2011 European Conference personally and professionally rewarding for attendees. We look forward to seeing you there!

To register for the ACFE European Fraud Conference, go here.