Linworld's 12th EMEA Anti-Corruption Compliance Summit 2025

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Linworld Group held 12th EMEA Anti-Corruption Compliance Summit 2025, Jan 15-16, 2025, Radisson Blu Hotel Dubai Canal View, Dubai, UAE. The conference attracted over 140 delegaes (General Counsel, Legal Director, Internal Audit Director, Compliance Director, Legal Counsel, C-levels, and other HR, Finance and Risk professionals, etc) from Fortune 2000. Geographically, most of them come from UAE, USA, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, India, Germany, China, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Mexico, France, Singapore, etc.
 
During the two days event, over 40 outstanding speakers from Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha), DIFC Courts, DOJ, GE, GSK, Merck, Bosch, Siemens, Schneider Electric, Citi, Bayer, Nestle, PwC, Ernst & Young, Nokia, NMC Healthcare, Control Risks, KPMG, Ericsson, Pepsico, HP, Hitachi Energy, Servier, Microsoft, Airbus, Central Bank Of Bahrain, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Al-Futtaim, Deloitte, A&O Shearman, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, Eversheds Sutherland, Simmons & Simmons, DHL, Squire Patton Boggs, Pinsent Masons, Herbert Smith Freehills, BSI, etc. gave speeches and discussions regarding the latest developments, challenges and cases regarding the Anti-Corruption and Compliance field.
 
 
 
The two-day event mainly consists of below four parts:
 
1, Part One: The most attractive and fascinating part: Recent actions, investigations and case study from Middle East countries, China, USA, and India, etc.
 
1.1 USA: FBI Officer introduced Recent Trends and Investigations in FCPA Enforcement: Recent Trends in FCPA Enforcement; FCPA Policy and Legislative Developments; Whistle-blower Pilot Program; Pilot Program on Voluntary Self-Disclosure for Individuals; Revision of Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Program; Enforcement Case Study
 
1.2 Saudi Arabia: Vice President from Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) went deeply into Corruption Risks and Anti-Corruption Initiatives in Saudi Arabia: Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) Law, effective 7 November 2024; Protection of Whistleblowers Law, issued 13 February 2024; Saudi Central Bank and Nazaha memorandum of cooperation, 20 November 2024; Nazaha MOUs with other countries
 
1.3 UAE: Director from DIFC Courts presented Bribery & Corruption Laws and Regulations 2024 United Arab Emirates: New Penal Code; Enforcement authorities established at a federal and emirate level to combat corruption and financial crime; UAE Federal Tax Authority User Guide; UAE removal in February 2024 from the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) Grey List
 
1.4 Middle East: Middle East Managing Partner from Herbert Smith Freehills unveiled EMEA Anti-Bribery Law Update 2024: EMEA and North Africa new laws and regulations; Enforcement trends and case studies; Emerging issues-what to look out for in 2025 and beyond
 
 
 
1.5 Export Control Compliance: A Partner from Simmons & Simmons interpreted the Export Control Compliance (Financial sanctions and trade controls): Overview of the sanctions and export control regimes; Expectations of the regulators in the UAE; Enforcement; Compliance
 
2, Part Two: The most eye-catching part: Data Protection Regulatory Framework
 
2.1 Data Partner from Morgan, Lewis & Bockius brought a wonderful speech titled Data Protection Regulatory Framework & Steps to Data Protection Compliance: Trends in development of data protection regimes; Regulatory landscape in the GCC; Challenges to data protection compliance; Privacy concerns while organization work on anti-corruption compliance and other compliance procedures; Steps to data protection compliance
 
2.2 International Partner from Squire Patton Boggs together with his local colleague co-presented Data Sovereignty: How It Impacts The Cross-Border Flow of Data: Data Privacy and Types of Restricted Data; How Do They Affect My Cross-Border Investigation/Dispute? w/examples; Cross-Border Data Regulations and Cyber Data Breach Situations; AI/Gen AI Data Regulations
 
2.3 India Partner from PwC shared The Use of eDiscovery Technology in Cross-Border Data Transfer Screening: The Role of eDiscovery in Cross-Border Data Transfers; Key eDiscovery Practices; Best Practices; Future Trends
 
3. Part Three: A feast of high tech and new technologies: How to Use New Technology to Help Fight Corruption and Other Risks
 
In this section, in-house counsels from Merck, GE, Pfizer, Siemens, GSK, HP, Microsoft, Central Bank Of Bahrain, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Al-Futtaim, Airbus; Top lawyers from Reed Smith, Eversheds Sutherland, Baker McKenzie, and leading experts from PwC, KPMG, Deloitte, Kroll, Crowe UAE, Control Risks, Dow Jones and BSI sat together to discuss How to Use ISO37001 and Latest Technology such as eDiscovery, AI, Machine Learning, Speech Content Analysis with LLM, Material Content Analysis, Event Photo Risk Detection, Intelligent Content Compliance Management to Improve the Corporate Compliance Systems Including but not Limited to Risk Detection, Fraud Investigation, Third Party Risk Management in the Age of AI.
 
4. Part Four: The most practical and down-to-earth section: Firsthand Experiences from Industry Leaders.
 
4.1 Building an Effective E&C Program for a Global Company from Bosch
4.2 How to Conduct a Compliance Audit in MENA from BSI
4.3 How to Do Business Safely in the EMEA Region from Schneider Electric
4.4 Best Practices in Third Party Diligence with a Focus on Risk Assessment from BRF
4.5 Culture of Compliance Journey shared together by Bayer, Jones Day, Pepsi-Cola, Control Risks
4.6 Corporate Self-Assessments and Internal Investigations in the EMEA Region discussed by 4 panelists from Pinsent Masons, Nestle, Ernst & Young, and Nokia
4.7 Managing Third Party Compliance Risks - Conduct Due Diligence Properly When Choosing a New Business Partner discussed together by BSI, Eversheds Sutherland, Hitachi Energy, Crowe, Servier  
4.8 Ethical Culture and Why it Matters in Corporate Compliance Programme from NMC Healthcare
4.9 Ethical Procurement and Supply Chain from Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply
 
Over 90% of attendees provided positive feedback to the event and expect to attend next one so that they can get another chance to learn from governmental officials, elite lawyers, compliance veterans and top partners from Big Four. Although the two-day’s summit was closed, however the discussion of the above-mentioned topics are still going on. Linworld Group will continue to make efforts to provide platform to those who are interested in learning more about the developments of anti-corruption compliance trends in China, Asia, EMEA and globally. Lastly, special thanks to our sponsors: Eversheds Sutherland; two days' chairman: Ms. Feifei Zheng and Mr. Scott Warren; supporting partners from Asia Briefing, International Compliance Association, The Association of Governance Risk and Compliance and Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply.