In attempting to rebound from the biggest antibribery enforcement action in memory, Siemens AG is trying to write a redemption story on the same scale. And in doing so, it’s not only trying to show that it’s built a world-class compliance program, it’s also testing its competitors’ appetite for fighting corruption.
Since the bribery scandal erupted in 2006, the giant Munich-based electronics and industrial engineering firm has come clean and faced its regulators in both the United States and Germany. It’s assembled a compliance team of 600—one of the largest anywhere—and talked it up. But now Siemens is doing more than talking; it’s trying to join with competitors to create “collective actions.”
