Corporate crime refers to criminal practices by individuals that have the legal authority to speak for a corporation or company. These can include presidents, CEOs, managers, directors and chairmen, sales people, agents, or anyone within a company that has authority to act on behalf of the firm. Examples of criminal behaviour in most jurisdictions include: antitrust violations, fraud, damage to the environment in violation of environmental legislation, exploitation of labour in violation of labour laws, and failure to maintain a fiduciary responsibility towards shareholders.
Corporate accountability refers to being accountable to the stakeholders of the organization. These stakeholders may include shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, the local community, and the country(s) that the firm operates in. In most jurisdictions, a body of corporate law has been developed to formalize these requirements.
Joel Bakan, author of The Corporation, argued that as corporations increase profitability, they often engage in criminal activity.
