A manifestation of fraud. We speak of corruption when a person abuses his or her position for personal or business profit. In addition to bribery, corruption includes extortion and undue influence (e.g. due to a conflict of interest). It does not matter whether the recipient, extortionist or instigator of the bribe is a public official, politician or private person. The definition also includes laundering the proceeds resulting from corruption.…
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A situation where a person serves multiple interests and where these interests conflict or may conflict and are incompatible with each other. These interests may be either business-related and private interests, or a mixture of the two. Conflicts of interest impair independence and threaten integrity. A conflict of interest is a (possible) manifestation of corruption.…
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A person within an organisation, to whom employees can report confidential matters, such as malpractice and violations of the integrity standards. The confidential adviser can also address and prevent undesirable behaviour such as bullying, harassment and discrimination in the workplace. Integrity, anonymity (if desired) and confidentiality are key elements of this arrangement. Employees must be able to contact the confidential adviser without putting themselves at risk.…
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The organisation chooses to change a previously selected accounting policy. One or more accounting principles for measuring assets and liabilities and determining the result differ from those used in the preparation of prior annual accounts. The Dutch Accounting Standard Board has further elaborated on (the processing approach for) changes to accounting policies in Guideline 140.…
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Acting within the framework of laws and regulations with inventive use of professional expertise. A characteristic of an organisation with high business integrity is that it acts to prevent conflicts of interest, corruption, fraud, violations of the law and/or other acts that are socially undesirable.…
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A chartered accountant (RA) or an accounting consultant (AA). The term accountant is also used to refer to an accounting firm. In these recommendations, the term accountant refers to the accountant who audits the organisation’s annual accounts, or issues a compilation report in connection with them. An accountant may be an accountant in business, a government accountant, an internal accountant or a forensic accountant.…
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An attorney takes care of the drafting of contracts and agreements that were reached. A well-written agreement will result in continued friendly relationships. For that reason it is of the utmost importance that agreements reached between parties are carefully and clearly recorded and produced in writing. An attorney has the necessary experience and will also deal with matters that you might have overlooked.…
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An attorney negotiates on your behalf and together with you tries to reach an agreement. Not only in relation to commercial contracts, but also in relation to inheritance and estates, divorces or disputes between neighbours, negotiations are always advisable and an attorney can be of great help. A negotiated solution is to be preferred over long and protracted proceedings.…
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Each and every one is regularly being confronted with legal documents, such as contracts, statutes or regulations. In many instances, the exact meaning of these texts is not all that clear or one does not understand the full meaning of them. An attorney will assist you and will counsel you and advise you. For this specific reason, an attorney is also called a “counsel”. You can ask your attorney to advise you in full confidence. He/she is bound by professional secrecy. Everything that is being discussed, remains between you and your attorney, your contact person in the utmost trust.…
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Either in your presence or in your absence an attorney can represent you before any authority where your interests are at stake. Not only before the Courts, but also before all sorts of administrative bodies, your lawyer is able to go on location in your place and stead. For instance your attorney can also represent you at business meetings and conferences. Take further advice about this from your attorney.…
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