Fighting Corruption The Successful Formula

The Achievements
A Cultural Change
Looking back, the ICAC has achieved no less than a quiet revolution in public
attitude towards corruption in Hong Kong. There has been a complete change in
our culture, from one of tolerance to total rejection. In recent years, Hong Kong is
consistently rated by international surveys as one of the least-corrupt places in
Asia. The ICAC now has the complete backing of the community in its work. Our
latest public opinion survey in 1999 found 99% of the people surveyed have
confidence in the effectiveness of the ICAC. Another encouraging sign is that
more than 90% of the corruption reports ICAC received come direct from the

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public and two thirds of the complainants are willing to identify themselves. This
is a marked improvement as compared with the situation back in 1974 where only
one third of the people would do so.
A Cleaner Public Service
Hong Kong now has a fundamentally cleaner public service. In 1974, the ICAC’s
first year of operation, corruption reports concerning government departments
comprised 86% of all reports. Last year, that figure was substantially reduced to
41%. Also, in 1974, 45% of corruption reports concerned the police force but in
last year, the figure was down to 16%.
This is achieved not only through the vigilance of ICAC investigators in pursuing
the corrupt but also through the successful promotion of a Code of Conduct and
Declaration of Conflict of Interest Guidelines which have been adopted in all
Government departments and public sector organisations. Employees of these
departments are subject to ethical codes and a system requiring the declaration of
pecuniary and private interests if they are in conflict with their official duties.
A Vigilant Private Sector
Although it is difficult to eliminate corruption in the private sector, businessmen in
Hong Kong are now fully alert to the dangers of corruption and is vigilant against
it. They realise that corruption hurts their reputation and business in the end. This
contrasts sharply with the situation in the early years when some parts of the
business community were hostile towards the ICAC. This change in attitude is
evidenced by a more receptive private sector and more business organisations are
seeking ICAC’s corruption prevention services.
The following are some examples:
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Since the establishment of a dedicated Advisory Service Group in 1985 to
provide tailor-made corruption prevention advice to the private sector, over

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2,000 private companies have sought corruption prevention advice in areas
like tendering, procurement, and staff administration.
!
Since 1994, the ICAC has encouraged over 70% of the publicly-listed and
major private companies as well as trade and professional associations (i.e.
over 1,800 companies) to adopt corporate codes of conduct to improve their
business ethics. The majority of these companies are now putting their codes
into practice with training seminars organised with the ICAC’s assistance.
From the corruption prevention angle, the adoption of a corporate code of
conduct is an essential element to help maintain a level-playing field for every
business in Hong Kong, and the active and voluntary response of the private
sector is most encouraging.
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Also, about 7,000 managerial and front-line staff of 1,700 small and medium
size companies have received preventive education training as the ICAC’s on-
going efforts in reaching out to the private sector.