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ICSS Group CEO wins Compliance Week Top Minds 2017 Award

Michael Hershman honoured by leading ethics and compliance publication for track record in anti-corruption and ongoing ‘quest to bring honesty and transparency to professional sport’

3 May 2017; The International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) is delighted to announce that Group CEO, Michael Hershman, has been named by Compliance Week as a winner of its Top Minds 2017 award.

As one of the leading international news titles in the corporate ethics and compliance industry, Compliance Week annually recognises the best and brightest thought leaders in the fields of governance, risk, compliance and ethics. This year, Compliance Week recognised Michael’s leadership as a ‘game changer’ in transparency, anti-corruption and integrity sector, as well as acknowledging the important role the ICSS is playing to promote good governance, integrity and safety and security in the sports industry.

Under Michael’s leadership, the ICSS has played a central role in helping to establish the Sport Integrity Global Alliance – a coalition of over 80 organisations committed to fostering greater integrity throughout sport – as well as its ongoing work bringing together international expertise from different sectors to develop pioneering research and training resources to help safeguard sport.

Speaking of Michael’s achievements and the Compliance Week Top Minds 2017 award, Bill Coffin, Editor-in-Chief of Compliance Week, said:

“Michael has long been a fixture in some of the most high-profile corruption investigations of our time, but his work in the world of sports especially caught the eye of Compliance Week.

“Sports, as Michael will tell you, occupies this peculiar zone where a lack of accountability and a willingness to forgive almost any transgression leads to an environment where very bad things can happen.

“That Michael has chosen this area to focus his efforts, and to spread awareness, is what makes him a true game-changer in the world of ethics and compliance. And, it is what makes him one of our Top Minds.”

Having begun his career in intelligence, investigations and law enforcement, in 1993 Michael co-founded Transparency International (TI) – the leading global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption – as well as establishing the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA), the first global institution of its kind dedicated to enhancing knowledge and best practice in the field of anti-corruption.

Speaking of the award, Michael Hershman, Group CEO of the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) added:

“To be chosen by my peers as a Compliance Week Top Minds 2017 is a huge honour and I would like to extend a special thanks to Compliance Week for this prestigious award.

“Having worked in anti-corruption, transparency and accountability for over 40 years, I have seen first-hand the significant benefits that good corporate governance and compliance can have in tackling corruption, as well as the vital role that collective action has in inspiring real and lasting change.

“As an organisation that was established to help safeguard sport and bring together international expertise from all sectors, the ICSS is in a unique position to inspire positive and lasting change in the sports industry and over recent months, we have been working hard to ensure the ICSS continues to evolve and further strengthen its work in the sport security and integrity sector.

“Looking forward, I believe the ethics and compliance sector has a vital role to play in sharing its experience and expertise with the sports industry and as Group CEO of the ICSS, I look forward to working with stakeholders in both sectors to help strengthen and safeguard sport.”

Michael joins a list of 12 winners of the Compliance Week Top Minds 2017 award, which features other top experts and thought-leaders from a wide range of disciplines, including financial services, media & communications, law, insurance, education, and government regulation. All were nominated by their peers and were selected by the Compliance Week editorial staff.

As well as guiding TI and IACA to become two of the largest independent, not-for-profit global bodies that actively promote anti-corruption, transparency and accountability in business and government, Michael’s 40-year career has also seen him appointed as a special advisor to INTERPOL as well as numerous governments, public and private sector corporations, law firms and financial institutions around the world.

Michael has also previously been a member of the FIFA Independent Governance Committee and an advisor to the Seoul 1988 and Athens 2004 Organising Committee for Olympic Games. Michael joined the ICSS as an Advisory Board Member, later becoming Group CEO in June 2016.

To view the full list of Compliance Week Top Minds 2017 winners, please click here