A couple years ago when Gonzalo Guzman was working as an anti-corruption in-house counsel for GlaxoSmithKline, the company included in its compliance protocol that general managers in each country ask employees to use government services online if possible, rather than engage in person.

Employees and the British company loved the idea, Guzman recounted, because it meant fewer face-to-face meetings over visas, customs, taxes, licenses or other items where a government official could demand a bribe.

GlaxoSmithKline funded a study by the Basel Institute on Governance, at the University of Basel in Switzerland, which reported on a causal link between using e-government services and reducing corruption. Then Guzman mentioned the policy at a 2018 TRACE International conference, where in-house counsel are always looking for new ways to combat bribery.