With measure, City Hall seeks to ensure legal security and transparency in the application of the Anti-Corruption Law

When regulating the Anticorruption Law, the city of São Paulo attributed only to the Comptroller General of the Municipality (CGM) the competence to apply the rule, leaving out the other municipal bodies. According to the head of CGM, Mario Vinícius Spinelli, the measure aims to guarantee legal certainty in the application of the law and to restore an environment of trust between companies and the municipal administration.

"I have read that Law 12.846 / 13 can generate even more corruption," said Spinelli in a lecture at the 2014 Latin America Ethics Summit, in reference to the possible misuse of the standard by public agencies. “In São Paulo, we decided to centralize the competence in Controllership to convey confidence. The regulations we created show that the procedures to be done by the City are serious, and companies will have an opportunity to show what they have done to prevent corruption. ”

Spinelli acknowledged that there is a crisis of confidence in the role of the State in guiding the interests of society. For him, restoring that trust is the responsibility of public managers and companies. The controller-general believes that strong public institutions committed to eliminating corruption, supported by robust legal frameworks, are part of the solution. But he stressed that the success of the Anti-Corruption Law depends on the good faith of the public authorities and the private sector.

As for the City Hall, Spinelli said that the creation of the CGM to identify internal deviations and the agency's initiative to make public the scheme of fees charged by City Hall inspectors (known as the ISS Mafia), in 2013, are demonstrations of commitment current municipal administration with transparency and an end to corruption.

On the part of companies, the controller-general understands that their role is not to tolerate corruption both internally and externally. Internally, this attitude of non-tolerance must reflect the efficiency of compliance programs in combating and preventing illicit conduct. At the external level, it should reflect the non-compactness with harassment of State agents, if it occurs.

Spinelli recalled that companies have reporting channels available, which are still underused. According to him, only 115 of the more than 35 thousand complaints already forwarded to the Federal Internal Affairs Department since its creation were made by companies. The controller-general also regretted that, of the 500 organizations investigated by the Public Prosecutor in the case of the ISS Mafia, only one approached CGM to collaborate with information. "This reflects the distrust of companies in the state, but it is something that needs to be changed."