leading telecom services provider Bharti Airtel with global operations in around 19 countries across Asia and Africa has been ranked first in a listing of 100 emerging market multinational companies as part of a 15-nation study on corporate transparency, which was released by Berlin-based Transparency International on Monday. Bharti Airtel was followed by major Indian corporate biggies, including six Tata-owned companies, Mahindra & Mahindra and Wipro.
Indian corporate firms are the most transparent while Chinese counterparts the most opaque, a global anti-graft watchdog said in a news report that assessed efforts of emerging companies to fight corruption. The report said, “Indian companies have the highest average score of any country. They all score 75 per cent or more in organisational transparency, largely due to the Companies Act. Indian firms dominated the top 8 spots in organisational transparency with Telecom company Bharti Airtel taking the first place with a score of 7.3 out of 10, followed by six units of conglomerate Tata and technology giant Wipro,” the report said.
The report, however, covered 100 companies in 15 emerging market countries that also included Brazil, Mexico and Russia. “In India, the Companies Act requires firms to disclose key financial information on all subsidiaries wherever they are located, resulting in Indian companies achieving the strongest score in this dimension,” the anti-graft watchdog said.
The companies were ranked on three parameters - reporting on anti-corruption programmes, covering inter-alia bribery, facilitation payments, whistleblower protection and political contributions, organisational transparency and country-by-country reporting, including revenues, capital expenditure and tax payments.
On the other hand, nine companies (eight from China and one from Mexico) were awarded the lowest possible score of 0 per cent. Fifty-four out of 100 companies scored above average (50 per cent or more).
Chinese companies, which account for a third of those assessed, had the weakest overall performance, scoring an average of 1.6 out of 10 with just one, telecom gear maker ZTE, making it to the top 25. “The very weak Chinese results stem from weak or non-existent anti-corruption policies and procedures, or a clear failure to disclose them in line with international best practice,” it added.
Transparency International said the report’s findings highlighted an urgent need for big multinational companies to do more to fight corruption. “The high average score of 77 per cent among Indian companies increases the overall average. In addition, 54 out of the 100 firms in this report score higher than 50 per cent in this dimension, while, among the companies in the global 2014 report, only 34 out of 124 score over 50 per cent,” it said, adding that the average score fell slightly by 0.2 compared to the last time the survey was taken in 2013.
“Pathetic levels of transparency in big emerging market companies raise the question of just how much the private sector cares about stopping corruption, stopping poverty where they do business and reducing inequality,” said Jose Ugaz, Chair of Transparency International.