Rising risk of corruption

International

Official corruption, encouraged by slow and weak legal systems in emerging market countries such as Russia, Brazil, China and India, was cited as the significant risk for potential traders with these countries, according to a recent report by the UK based political risk and trade credit insurer, Atradius. Russia emerged as the country around which there was the most concern. The Atradius report, ‘Risks in Trading with Emerging Economies’, suggests that corruption is seen as the main risk in trading with Russia by 33% of potential trading partners compared to 27% of companies already trading with Russia. Nearly a third (32%) of potential buyers cite a lack of information on creditworthiness as their main concern compared to 18% of those already involved in trading. In trading with China, 24% of potential trading partners view political influences and interventions as a risk compared to 19% already trading with China. Twenty two per cent of potential traders with Brazil also cited political influences as a major risk compared to 14% of those already in trading relationships. For companies thinking about trading with India, their main concern (20%) is poor protection of creditors by law.