PwC
operations. Economic crime damages internal processes, erodes the integrity of employees and tarnishes reputation,” he added.
Locations of Economic Crime Economic crime is a pervasive, global threat. Regionally, economic crime is most prevalent in Africa, where 50% of respondents say they have been victims, though down from 59% in 2011. It is followed by North America, 41%, Eastern Europe, 39%, Latin America and Western Europe, each 35%, Asia Pacific, 32%, and the Middle East, 21%.
Respondents from 65 countries and territories reported that they have experienced economic crime. South African respondents report the highest level, 69%, up from 60% in 2011. Crime is also growing rapidly in the Ukraine, 63% up from 36% three years ago, Russia, 60% vs. 37% in 2011, and Australia, 57% vs. 47% in 2011.
The survey identified eight emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Turkey, Mexico and Indonesia – where 40% of total respondents said they have experienced economic crime, reflecting in part a shift in wealth to those countries.
The Industries Most Affected By industry, economic crime is most common in the financial services, retail and consumer and communications sectors. Nearly 50% of respondents in each said they have been crime victims. Financial services organisations are victims of high levels of cybercrime and money
About The Survey The 2014 Global Economic Crime Survey was completed by 5,128 respondents from 95 countries between August and October 2013. Of the respondents, 50% were senior executives, 35% represented publicly listed companies, and 54% were from organizations with more than 1,000 employees.
For more information:
www.pwc.com/crimesurvey
laundering, while retail and consumer and communications companies have suffered from most from theft. Hospitality and leisure, and government both 41%, also report high crime levels.
Committers of Fraud Typically economic crime is committed when three conditions are present: life pressure, opportunity and personal rationalisation for the crime. According to the survey, 56% of economic crime is committed by someone inside the company, while 40% is external. There are wide variances by industry, however. In financial services, for example, nearly 60% of crime comes from outside the company, while 36% is internal.
Globally, a fifth of economic crime is committed by those in senior management, 42% by middle managers and 34% by junior staff.
The profile of the typical fraudster is middle-aged males with a college degree or higher level of education who have been with their organization for a substantial period. Globally, almost half of all frauds are committed by employees with six or more years of experience and almost a third are committed by employees with three to five years of experience.
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How Fraud is Discovered The survey found that 55% of economic crime is discovered through corporate controls such as reporting of suspicious transactions, internal audit, or fraud risk management. Whistle-blowing systems or tips offs uncover about a quarter of reported crimes, and about one-fifth is uncovered by other means such as law enforcement, the media, or by accident.
The survey finds that respondents expect economic crime will continue to increase in the future among nearly all categories. This result was also found in PwC’s 17th Annual CEO Survey. CEOs globally also recognise the impact of economic crime; 50% said ‘lack of trust’ was a key issue in the marketplace, a sharp increase from 37% a year ago. Bribery and corruption also are ranked among CEOs’ top concerns.
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