Transparency and business ethics programs in Colombia: lights and shadows

Abstract

This paper proposes a reflection on the compliance programs in Colombia. This is a modern tool adopted in order to associate companies with the effort to protect issues considered valuable to the legal system. The institution has been partially and recently integrated into the Colombian legal system as part of a new legal discipline: compliance. This is a global regulatory trend that has developed in response to serious scandals involving large international companies. In this article, transparency and business ethics programs are analyzed based on Colombian regulations, which expressly propose to integrate international standards on the matter. A descriptive and analytical methodology of the national regulations on the subject is followed, which is complemented with a comparative analysis that takes into account the international origin of the institution. The first part of the text analyzes the positive aspects of the institution. These are associated with the diffusion of a new conception of corporate responsibility that allows for the imposition of obligations related to the protection of the general interest. In the second part, the shadows are analyzed, there a critical vision is raised on the way in which the institution has been integrated into the Colombian legal system. It is concluded that the figure can have positive effects, but the timid and incomplete adoption prevents it from generating all the beneficial effects that can be derived from it.