Progress 2020: Anti-corruption

A.P. Moller - Maersk aims to eliminate corruption in the industries where we are active through both multistakeholder collaboration and actions in our own operations.

This includes complying with legislation on anti-corruption practices, which ultimately translates to zero bribery and elimination of facilitation payments.

The risk of corruption in our ocean business relates primarily to interactions with authorities in ports and at border controls, and mostly as facilitation payments. In our terminals, the risk is greatest when negotiating government agreements on  concessions. Risks on land and in our supply chain are predominantly managed through our Responsible Procurement programme.

We work to combat bribery, fraud, kickbacks and preferential treatment related to our operations by performing due diligence of agents, joint venture partners, key suppliers, and M&A targets prior to signing a contract or entering a new market. Expectations to employees are outlined in the A.P. Moller - Maersk Code of Conduct and the Maersk Anti-Corruption policies and guidelines. We enforce rules on travel, meals, lodging, gifts, amenities and entertainment, and employees complete annual training on compliance. Our current compliance programme is based on guidelines for complying with the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

We work on projects focused on risk-based mitigation measures, e.g. in-person training, transaction testing, spot checks and appointment of business compliance ambassadors, strengthening our internal compliance controls framework as well as rolling out a conflict-of-interest policy. 

Non-compliance with legislation on bribery and corruption may lead to legal and reputational risks, extra costs, inefficiencies in our business, fines, imprisonment and ultimately
debarment from markets. 

Read about our 2020 performance and activities on page 40 in the 2020 Sustainability report.

Read more about anti-corruption.