Corporate compliance departments are increasingly uneasy about their exposure to bribery risks, and many say they are still not up to snuff when it comes to policing third parties and eliminating facilitation payments.

According to a recent study from Kroll Advisory Solutions, 69 percent of 139 compliance executives surveyed say their companies have either high or moderate exposure to bribery risk. And in the pharmaceutical industry, all of the respondents say risks are high or moderate.

Jaclyn Jaeger is a freelance contributor to Compliance Week after working for the company for 15 years. She writes on a wide variety of topics, including ethics and compliance, risk management, legal,...