Éthique et concurrence:
la quadrature du cercle?
Bernard Sinclair-Desgagné
Professeur titulaire
Chaire d’Économie internationale et de gouvernance
HEC Montréal
Plan de la présentation


Le panorama
Evolution - Des «Sentencing
Guidelines» à Sarbanes-Oxley

Un paradoxe de la conformité?

Antidotes
1. Le panorama



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Les crimes de cols blancs (white-collar crimes)
coûteraient aux compagnies américaines entre
$200 milliards et $600 milliards par année.
Par comparaison, les crimes de rues et autres
larcins (vols, cambriolages) coûteraient respectivement $4 milliards et $15.6 milliards par an.
La fraude chez une compagnie typique représente une perte allant de 1% à 6% de son
chiffre d’affaires.
Plus de 30% des faillites de nouvelles entreprises seraient dues à des crimes de cols blancs.
2. Évolution – maintenant (1)

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (30 juillet 2002)
- Accuracy of financial reports
- Off-balance sheet transactions
- Pro-format financial information
- Loans to executives
- Officer/Director bars and penalties
- Changes in stock ownership
- Internal controls
- Code of ethics
- Audit committee expertise
- SEC enhanced review of periodic disclosures
- Real-time disclosure
2. Évolution – maintenant (2)

Sarbanes-Oxley pour les cies non-US:
- Officer certifications
- Loans to directors and executive officers
- Bonus and other forfeitures in event of restatements
- “Whistleblower” protection
- Reports of personal securities transactions of directors
and executive officers
- Audit committee organization and responsibilities
- Independence of accounting firm
- Registration of U.S. and non-U.S. accounting firms with
board
- Disclosure of material correcting adjustments
- Codes of ethics for senior financial officers
- Internal control assessments
- Off-balance sheet transactions
2. Évolution – maintenant (3)

Sarbanes-Oxley… et au delà:
Canadian Council of Chief Executives
Codes of ethics. In order to serve the interest of our
shareholders, it is not enough to make business
decisions guided only by what is permitted by the letter
of law. Sustainable growth in sharehoder value
requires that we set high ethical standards for
operating our businesses and champion a corporate
culture based on doing what is right. We recognize that
it is the actions rather than just the words of the
chief executive that sets the tone for the behavior
of employees within our companies and that
determines the company’s reputation with customers,
suppliers and other stakeholders.
2. Évolution – il y a 15 ans…

The 1991 U.S. Sentencing Guidelines:
Laufer (1999): «Following Congressional passage of the
Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations in 1991, there has
been a notable shift of liability away from the entity, one
that now reflects a risk disequilibrium between firms and
their agents.»
Langevoort (2001): «(…) perhaps in the exercise of bona
fide business judgment, firms choose compliance structures
in which the values of motivation and cohesion (not to
mention out-of-pocket costs) often trump high-powered
monitoring, thus opting for higher compliance risk because
it is the most sensible strategy.»
3. Un paradoxe de la conformité?
► On a observé une corrélation positive entre le nombre de
programmes de mise en conformité et le nombre de crimes
de cols blancs.
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Arlen and Kraakman (1997): «pursuing the basic enforcement goals of (1) inducing efficient activity levels and (2)
minimizing the joint costs of misconduct and enforcement
(…) places different, and potentially inconsistent demands
on a corporate liability regime.»
Hasnas (2005): «(…) in the context of federal criminal law,
there are many ways in which compliance is not ethical and
ethical behavior is not compliance.»
4. Antidotes (1)

Conformité plus «diligente» / gouvernance plus
«serrée»
1. Clarté des politiques et procédures
2. Engagement de la direction
3. Délégation «diligente»
4. Communication et transparence
5. Suivi et protecton des sonneurs d’alarme
6. Mise en vigueur et corrections uniformes
7. Amélioration continue
► Les «U.S. Sentencing guidelines» prévoient des
réductions substantielles de peines fondées sur
« l’effort de mise en conformité».
4. Antidotes (2)

Dispositifs de mise en conformité de nouvelle
génération:
☻ Promotion de la diversité
☻ Nouveaux partenariats ONG-Entreprises
-
Lafarge et WWF
Starbuck et Oxfam
Body Shop et Friends of the Earth
McDonald’s et Environmental Defense Fund
Bristol-Myers Squibb et Conservation International
Lindseth (2004): «(…) each additional dollar of
compliance spending saves organizations, on average,
$5.21 in heightened avoidance of legal liabilities, harm to
the organization’s reputation and lost productivity.»