Global Economic Crime Survey 2024—CEE findings

Fraud, in its various forms, presents a constant and significant threat to organisations globally, regardless of their size, location or sector. CEE respondents ranked customer and procurement fraud among the top three most disruptive economic crimes experienced by their companies in the past 24 months.

Despite this, a concerning gap exists in comprehensive risk assessment. While almost half of CEE companies surveyed report they completed an enterprise-wide fraud risk assessment in the last 12 months, over half (53%) have not performed this assessment or the respondents are not aware of it. It indicates a pressing need for improvement and immediate action.

Encouragingly, CEE companies demonstrate a stronger focus on using data analytics to identify procurement fraud, waste or abuse than organisations globally. Only around one in ten CEE companies don’t apply data analytics for this purpose while globally it’s one in five.

Regulations across the world are evolving rapidly. Governments are demanding that businesses move beyond mere compliance and adopt robust systems to proactively identify and address misconduct. This includes scrutinising third-party risks and harnessing data analytics for both compliance and investigations. 

Organisations are now expected to proactively manage their entire ecosystem, from business partners and supply chains to possible internal misconduct, particularly with increased whistleblower protections. 

With most major bribery and corruption cases involving third parties, ongoing monitoring and regular audits are crucial components of a strong defence strategy. However, our findings indicate that this is an area often neglected, particularly in CEE.

Furthermore, CEE companies tend to not take sufficient practical steps regarding corruption risks, although they know about them. While 70% of CEE respondents are aware of corruption risks in their countries, 71% don’t recall any anti-bribery/anti-corruption audits performed at third parties in the last two years.

As for governments’ part of work, 77% of CEE executives believe government efforts to enforce anti-corruption laws are becoming more robust or remain constant within countries of their operation. 

Businesses are under increasing scrutiny, with ethical practices, particularly regarding human rights, in the spotlight. Driven by public awareness and evolving regulations, companies are now responsible for ensuring human rights are upheld throughout their supply chains. This means proactively addressing potential abuse (including forced labour), using robust risk assessments and comprehensive supply chain mapping and shifting towards greater transparency and accountability.

In CEE, 44% of respondents recognise assessing the risk of forced labour in their supply chain as a priority. This is lower, however, than the global average figure of 55%.

Regardless of whether your company is covered or not by the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), do you believe that assessing the risk of forced labour in your supply chain is a priority for your organisation?

Geopolitical factors have a significant influence on international trade and have prompted governments worldwide to implement stringent export controls and sanctions. These dynamic regulations demand that organisations remain agile and informed to ensure compliance. Failure to do so can result in severe penalties, reputational damage and disruption to business operations. That’s why organisations must develop effective export controls compliance programmes to navigate the regulatory landscape and mitigate potential risks.

Our findings reveal that while two-thirds (66%) of CEE executives acknowledge sanctions risk compliance as at least a moderate priority within their organisations, there is a notable gap between awareness and action. Significantly, 39% are either not regularly testing their sanctions compliance programmes or are unsure if such testing occurs.

To what extent is sanctions risk compliance a priority within your organisation?

Which of the following do you think poses the greatest sanctions compliance risk for your organisation?

While our survey findings demonstrate that CEE companies are aware of various economic crime risks, this awareness hasn't necessarily translated into sufficient preventative action. There remains significant room for improvement, and bridging this gap should be a strategic priority driven by close C-level collaboration.

Active involvement of senior management and board members in risk mitigation planning is essential, especially as new challenges and risks continue to emerge. So what actionable steps can organisations take to develop more effective economic crime prevention systems?

PwC’s 2024 Global Economic Crime Survey was conducted between January and March 2024. PwC surveyed nearly 2,500 companies across 63 territories. There were 232 responses from Central Eastern Europe. PwC Research, PwC’s global Centre of Excellence for market research and insight, conducted this survey.