Economic Crime and Fraud in Thai Companies: Key Findings from PwC’s Survey

Introduction

The recent report by PwC’s Thailand Economic Crime and Fraud Survey 2020 highlights the prevalence of economic crime and fraud in Thai companies. This article summarizes the key findings from the survey, which provide valuable insights into the challenges faced by businesses in preventing and addressing economic crime.

Challenges in Preventing Economic Crime

Lack of Digital Skills and Resources: Many respondents cited a lack of digital skills and resources as a barrier to deploying technology and handling results.
Cost as a Barrier: Cost was identified as the main obstacle to deploying technology to fight crime, highlighting the need for businesses to prioritize investment in fraud prevention measures.

Insufficient Fraud Prevention Programs

Only around half of all respondents had formal fraud prevention programs in place, indicating a significant gap in companies’ efforts to prevent economic crime.
Fewer than 10% of respondents followed best practices, suggesting a need for more effective and widespread implementation of fraud prevention strategies.

Weak Risk Assessment and Management

While almost half of respondents performed regular risk assessments, only 7% had a crisis program in place to manage unforeseeable risks.
This highlights the importance of having robust risk assessment and management processes in place to mitigate economic crime and fraud.

Third-Party Due Diligence

30% of respondents said they didn’t have a third-party due diligence or monitoring program in place, indicating a need for more effective screening and monitoring of external partners.

Investigation and Discipline Processes

Only 59% of respondents had documented investigation and discipline processes in place, and only 55% conducted an investigation after discovering an incident.
This suggests that many companies lack clear procedures for addressing economic crime and fraud, which can exacerbate the problem.

Remediation and Response

The most common remediation was to discipline or terminate employees involved, but few companies had a formal process in place to track outcomes of investigations.
This highlights the need for more effective remediation strategies to address economic crime and fraud.

Conclusion

The PwC survey highlights the importance of having effective fraud prevention programs, risk assessment and management processes, and remediation strategies in place to mitigate economic crime and fraud. By prioritizing investment in these areas, businesses can reduce their exposure to economic crime and ensure a safer and more secure operating environment.