CORPORATE CRIME OBSERVATORY

​The research efforts of the members of the Collaborative Research Network 41 (CRN41) on Economic Crime and Corporate Compliance led to the organization of several insightful paper sessions and roundtables at the Law & Society Association 2025 meeting in Chicago. The CRN41 sessions collectively fostered a rich, multi-disciplinary, and global dialogue, bringing together experts from numerous institutions across at least 10 countries. This broad participation enriched the debate on the "Ecosystem of Truth," featuring significant contributions from academics and practitioners from the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Brazil, Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Nigeria, among others. The diverse perspectives from institutions such as Aston University, Boston College, Exeter University, Flinders University, University of Leiden, Luiss University, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Manchester, the University of São Paulo, the University of Saskatchewan, Seattle University, and Utrecht University, alongside non-academic bodies like the Office of the Prosecutor in Naples and Whistleblowers of America, were instrumental in dissecting these complex issues and crafting a path toward greater accountability.

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These sessions directly reflected pressing contemporary themes surrounding corporate accountability and the mechanisms for exposing misconduct. The work was thematically anchored by the idea of an "Ecosystem of Truth," a conceptual framework advanced by Prof. Costantino Grasso, which examines the interconnected roles of various actors in safeguarding democratic and social well-being. This concept was most directly addressed in the paper session titled "The Ecosystem of Truth: How Investigative Journalism, Whistleblowing, and Leaks Safeguard Democracy." This cornerstone panel explored how investigative journalists serve as a crucial mechanism for uncovering corruption and wrongdoing and tackled the significant challenges they face, such as the use of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) to silence reporting.

The themes of this session resonated deeply throughout the other CRN41 panels. For instance, the critical role of whistleblowing—often intertwined with journalistic reporting as a "disclosure of last resort"—was further explored in depth during the roundtable "Whistleblowing in Democracy: Safeguarding Justice, Transparency, and Organizational Integrity". Drawing on interdisciplinary perspectives from law, economics, and ethics, this session explicitly examined how whistleblowers contribute to justice and transparency despite facing significant challenges like retaliation and systemic obstacles. Moreover, broader themes of accountability and the mechanisms for uncovering wrongdoing were evident in sessions that, at first glance, seemed to have a different focus. The session "Beyond Profit: Redefining Corporate Accountability in a Globalized World" directly addressed the challenge of holding corporations responsible for their impacts on human rights and the environment. It dissected the legal mechanisms and corporate strategies used to evade liability and highlighted the crucial role of litigation and enforcement in promoting sustainability. This thematic web extended to the examination of regulatory systems and their failures. The session "Navigating the Regulatory Maze: Compliance, Consequences, and Criminality" delved into the complexities of regulatory frameworks, including critical issues like regulatory capture, as exemplified by a paper on the EPA's allegedly fraudulent assessment of 'forever pesticides'. Similarly, the panel on "Mandatory Regulation vs. Self-regulation" bridged the gap between "corporate narratives and real-world impact" , questioning the effectiveness of self-regulation and raising concerns about "symbolic compliance." The "Ecosystem of Truth" concept was also contextualized within the modern digital landscape. The roundtable "Disinformation, Corporate Compliance and Enforcement" tackled the accountability of online platforms in the fight against disinformation and online crime, comparing the regulatory models in Europe and the United States. Complementing this, the "Tech-Powered Disclosures" roundtable explored the transformative role of technology and Artificial Intelligence in supporting this ecosystem by improving the effectiveness of internal disclosures and the autonomous detection of misconduct.