Page 29 - CCCA 292467 Magazine_Spring 2019

{ FEATURE }

Public outrage over corruption is shattering traditional political systems, and antiestablishment leaders are being elected across the
globe. While we may be somewhat sheltered in Canada, anticorruption has become a powerful driving force for change in places
such as Latin America and South Asia, where economic instability, inequality and violence have had devastating consequences.
Individuals are looking for leaders who demonstrate honesty and integrity that match their own. Beginning in the political arena, it is
also spilling into the corporate sphere. As in-house counsel, we are the moral compass of our organizations. We need to be prepared.

recently accepted a posting to Mexico, where I am seeing openly and progressively. People are justifably outraged when
frst-hand the implementation of radical anticorruption legal process is corrupted to the advantage of a few while the
i policies by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, known majority of the population lives without basic services.
throughout the country as AMLO. This leftist leader of the When faced with such corruption, it is encouraging to see
Morena party is wildly popular in this country. AMLO’s resume people stick up for what is right, despite short-term pain and
includes political activism and championship of the poor, as frustration. Their personal sense of honesty and integrity is be-
well as time as the mayor of Mexico City, where he is seen as a ing leveraged as a powerful weapon to fght an entrenched re-
pragmatic populist. On the campaign trail, he vowed to combat gime that is rotten.
the power of the privileged political and business elite, jolting A comparison can be made between the Mexican govern-
markets and unsettling investment. ment’s actions to curb fuel theft and the Indian government’s
Since coming to power in December 2018, he has put his strategies to end systemic corruption. Five years ago, Narendra
antiestablishment and anticorruption ambitions into practice. Modi became the Prime Minister of India following a campaign
One of the frst moves of his government was to shut several where he pledged to clean up the system, and one of the actions
major gas pipelines from which fuel was being syphoned and the government took was demonetization. Effectively, they re-
sold in the black market. It was alleged that the theft was aided moved high currency banknotes from circulation in late 2016.
by the active participation of high-ranking offcials in the state- This move was widely seen as a crackdown on so-called “black
owned energy company Pemex, which supplies most of the fuel money”—cash used to fund illegal activities ranging from tax
to the country’s gas stations. evasion to terrorist fnancing. The idea was that demonetization
This bid to reduce fuel theft resulted in weeks of severe fuel would eliminate corrupt behaviour by cutting the time-worn
shortages, which had a major impact on daily life. I live within channels through which government offcials laundered money.
walking distance of my offce, but many others are not so lucky. In Almost overnight, the government recalled all 500 and 1000
January, for instance, some of my co-workers were having to get up rupee notes. The result was weeks of economic disruption and
in the middle of the night to fll their tanks or endure line-ups of long queues at banks. But a corollary beneft was that more
3-4 hours at the pumps. Supply chains were also temporarily dis- citizens began to participate in the banking system. Digital
rupted, as it became diffcult to move goods around the country. banking took off, enabled by the large number of people own-
Yet, despite the inconvenience and short-term economic dis- ing mobile phones. Because these transactions leave a paper
ruption, the fuel shortages have not cost the president any sup- trail, they are less susceptible to corruption. India essentially
port. Not one person I spoke to complained about the govern- began the move from a cash-based to a cashless society, with
ment’s action or thought it had gone too far. Most were more the large boost in digital payments stimulating a digitally en-
concerned with the economic damage that has been caused by abled economy.
decades of fuel theft, which has cost Pemex billions over the years. In addition to demonetization, the Indian government in-
troduced a range of other policies aimed at curbing corrup-
Fixing the System tion. As a business traveler in India last year, I could sense the
popular support for these initiatives. While the jury is still
out on their effectiveness—India dropped in the Trace In-
Curbing fuel theft in Mexico is widely seen as a necessary step ternational’s annual corruption perception index this year—
on the path towards equality. When everyone respects legal these policies seem to give the average person hope things
rights of ownership and distribution, society can operate fairly, will improve.

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