The Sinclair Approach -I found this article on the yahoo "TRE" group.
Best Practice Resources and Information
You Don't Have to Pay Bribes: The Sinclair Approach
By Frank Vogl
Business executives often claim that they have no choice, especially in developing countries, other than to pay bribes to secure permits and opportunities to win procurement contracts. James Sinclair would disagree. He has a track record that is impressive and is worth noting.
In the early 1990s I was privileged to be asked to join Sinclair in a mining venture in Tanzania. This was a country that for over 20 years had evolved a strong suspicion of foreign corporations and thus been highly reluctant to permit them to develop the nation’s gold, diamond, nickel, copper and other mineral resources. Mr. Sinclair, the Chairman of Sutton Resources of Canada, understood that if his company was to succeed in Tanzania, then he had to earn the trust of the authorities. He also believed that success would result from transparency, honesty and good deeds.
I was an advisor to the Chairman and a member of Sutton’s Board of Directors. We never paid bribes. We demonstrated that we were good corporate citizens. We engaged in long-term philanthropy. We assisted the government to build a global strategy to attract more top quality foreign investment into the mineral sector. We worked hard to prove that we took environmental protection seriously.
Our company went to substantial lengths to underscore our long-term commitment as solid corporate citizens to Tanzania. Mr. Sinclair’s daughter, Marlene, settled in Tanzania and has played and continues to play important roles in philanthropy in the social services area there. Our commitment was the basis for establishing trust and in response we were treated fairly by the Government.
Sutton Resources invested substantial sums and reached the point where it was acquired by one of the world’s largest mining companies, Barrick Gold Corporation of Canada. In recent years Barrick has invested major sums in mining in Tanzania and the success of our company, followed by Barrick’s success, has brought hundreds of millions of dollars of foreign direct investment and seen the growth of a dynamic gold mining industry in Tanzania. And, Mr. Sinclair, who today heads TanRange of Canada, has continued to invest in Tanzania and build a host of exceptionally high value mineral assets with great potential. He has never paid bribes. Nobody asks him for bribes. He has succeeded in building trust and being seen as a sincere partner to a nation striving to develop. His approach and his company are examples of what I believe must be the corporate anti-corruption compact of the future.
This is a compact that respects ethics and the companies that bend over backwards to demonstrate that they walk the ethics walk across the globe. In return, these companies can enjoy respect, not suspicion; they can operate dynamically, not be tied in red tape; they can expand and create employment; not devote their time to bribery and corruption.
This is an approach where, for example, companies across the globe accept and apply t he “Business Principles for Countering Bribery,” which are a joint initiative facilitated by Transparency International and Social Accountability International. Indeed, the approach that needs to be taken that combines a resolute no to paying bribes by business with a determined business effort to secure public trust – the James Sinclair approach – is the route that should be encouraged. T he alternative is ever more regulation that will not be enforced and that will stimulate still greater corruption. This alternative is unacceptable.
To read more about this approach see the “Positioning for Advantage” chapter in a book co-authored by Sinclair and Vogl titled: BOOM: Visions and Insights For Creating Wealth in The 21 st Century (published by Irwin)