We were honored to have Prof. Dr. Roel Nieuwenkamp, the Chair of the OECD Working Party on Responsible Business Conduct, as the guest speaker at our Compliance After Work event last week. Prof. Nieuwenkamp gave a thought-provoking speech on the current trends in responsible business conduct and we wanted share with you some key takeaways.
Responsible business conduct – what’s up?
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First, it is worth mentioning that responsible business conduct (or corporate responsibility) is nothing new. For example, the guidelines for multinational corporations developed by OECD member states are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year. Despite, or perhaps because, of this midlife crisis, this field is witnessing a few fundamental changes:
It is easy to see signs of these main trends, as presented by Prof. Nieuwenkamp. Responsible business conduct has also become our daily life at Castrén & Snellman through discussions in relation to financing arrangements, M&A deals and conducting business partner due diligence. For our part, we continue this discussion with our next seminar in September which will include inspiring examples of best practices in implementing responsible business conduct principles.