Economic Crime Survey: Engineering and Construction Supplement

The Engineering and Construction Industry Supplement highlights:

•          A mixed picture; whilst the overall percentage of E&C companies reporting incidents and the mean number of incidents are down in comparison to 2005 survey results, overall costs were up sharply

•          Losses were highest for IP infringement cases; overall economic crime in the emerging markets was more costly than in other parts of the world.

•          Asset misappropriation levels are down, so preventative measures such as the installation of tracking devices may be having an impact -- or the E&C sector may not be detecting as much of the economic crime that is occurring

•          Corruption and bribery remain a significant problem. Central and Eastern Europe stands out as particular hot-spot; over two-fifths of engineering and construction respondents (41%) in the region report having been asked to pay a bribe, and three-fifths estimate that their company experienced business setbacks due to corruption by competitors.

•          The percentage of economic crime attributed to middle managers in the E&C industry is down substantially vs. 2005, whereas senior/top managers were slightly more likely to commit fraud

One-fifth of E&C companies do nothing in response to a serious incident of economic crime, a cause for concern. Establishing a consistent company culture, including appropriate control systems and sanctions -- and extending it to sub-contractors -- is critical.