programmes and transparency. Transparency International has long advocated that by reporting publicly on relevant policies, procedures, activities and operations, companies not only mitigate the risk of corruption but also provide the necessary information to make them accountable to investors, journalists and civil society. The same applies to companies from emerging markets. Stakeholder demands for greater corporate transparency have led to the introduction of recent legislation mandating more detailed financial disclosure. For example, the United States 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act8 requires country-level reporting of all payments to governments (US and foreign) by extractive companies registered on the US stock exchange. Similar rules were recently adopted for European companies in the oil, gas, mining and logging industries.9 A recent European proposal would compel companies to be more transparent about sustainability issues including governance and anti-corruption practices.10 These developments are relevant to emerging market companies and should influence their practice as they move into developed markets. In fact, emerging market companies have a unique opportunity to position themselves, not only as leading companies in the marketplace, but also as leading corporate citizens by adopting the most advanced anti-corruption and transparency practices. Global companies from developed markets have spent the last two decades learning, often at high cost to their bottom lines and their reputations, how to achieve improved levels of anti-corruption practice. Emerging market companies should make use of those lessons to raise their own standards and become world leaders in this area.
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Transparency International