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Ethicast: Introducing the 2026 World’s Most Ethical Companies

Ethicast

Ethicast: Introducing the 2026 World’s Most Ethical Companies

It’s one of the biggest days of the year for ethics, compliance, and business integrity as Ethisphere recognizes the 138 companies that have earned the coveted designation of the World’s Most Ethical Companies in 2026, for having best-in-class ethics and compliance programs, corporate governance practices, and cultures of integrity.  

Alongside the honoree announcement, Ethisphere released the Ethics Premium™, a five-year analysis comparing the stock performance of publicly traded 2026 World’s Most Ethical Companies honorees with a broad global benchmark. From Jan. 1, 2021 through Dec. 31, 2025, this year’s publicly traded honorees outperformed the benchmark by 8.2 percentage points.  

With us today to talk about this year’s class of honorees, the Ethics Premium, and more, is Ethisphere Chief Strategy Officer Erica Salmon Byrne. 

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2026 Ethics Premium Report

2026 Ethics Premium Report 

The Ethics Premium™ connects ethics and compliance investment to outcomes executives recognize: downside protection, recovery speed, and durable performance. Based on a five-year market lookback versus a broad global benchmark, the analysis shows a consistent resilience pattern among companies with strong E&C programs: better stock performance, smaller worst-case declines, faster returns to prior highs, and less time below peak.

Use this report to make a clearer, data-backed case for investing in E&C.

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Click to read Inside the Ethics Premium

Data That Makes the Case

The business case is straightforward with this data. Strong programs help reduce surprises, strengthen decision-making, and protect trust, all of which support durable performance.

+8.2 pp

Outperformance Over 5 Years

7.1%

Smaller Max Drawdown

10.1%

Faster Recovery Time

14.4%

Less Time Underwater

Inside the Report

A board-ready case for investing in ethics and compliance to support durable performance and resilience through volatility.

A concise set of presentation-ready performance and resilience signals

Plain-language explanations of each metric and why it matters to boards and executive teams.

Practical program benchmarks & proof signals showing what best-in-class programs do differently.

Methodology and definitions that enable informed use without overclaiming causation.

Trusted by forward-thinking teams at:

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Boards care about resilience.

See what ethics-leading companies do differently.

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BELA Asks: Who Should Own Our Compliance Program?

Ethicast

BELA Asks: Who Should Own Our Compliance Program?

In today’s episode of BELA Asks, Erica Salmon Byrne, Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Chair of BELA, addresses who should ultimately own an organization’s compliance program. The answer is: it depends.  

This episode stems from the BELA concierge service, in which BELA members can submit questions regarding ethics and compliance and our internal experts will provide an answer plus helpful resources with information. And since there is no competition in compliance, we respond thematically to high-level questions in the BELA Asks series for the benefit of E&C teams everywhere.

Learn more about BELA, request guest access to the Member Resource Hub, and connect with a BELA Engagement Director at www.ethisphere.com/bela

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Ethicast: Managing Cross-Jurisdictional Investigations

Ethicast

Ethicast: Managing Cross-Jurisdictional Investigations

One of the most pronounced concerns of the 2026 risk landscape so far is that of external investigations that involve multiple jurisdictions. Many businesses operate on an international, multi-national, or global basis. And if they don’t, their third-party suppliers and partners certainly do.  

At the same time, a worldwide fracturing of regulatory expectations, enforcement paradigms, and legal controls have made the threat of a cross-border investigation an even greater risk than it has been traditionally. For any business facing the possibility of dealing with legal troubles that span jurisdictions, there has never been a better time to prepare in advance than right now.  

Joining us this episode to explain how you can manage the risk of cross-border external investigations is Sagarika Chakraborty, CEO – India and Gulf, and Global Head of Investigations, of IIRIS Consulting, the largest Indian Digital, Risk, and Intelligence consulting firm. 

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BELA Asks: How Do I Address External Board Service?

Ethicast

BELA Asks: How Do I Address External Board Service?

In today’s episode of BELA Asks, Erica Salmon Byrne answers the question, “We are reviewing our approach to service on external boards, both governing and advisory. In particular, what are circumstances in which we would or would not allow compensation for service on such boards?” Erica addresses best practices on ensuring board service is documented as a conflict of interest, getting permission for service, and what to watch out for, particularly in allowing compensation for external board service. 

This episode stems from the BELA concierge service, in which BELA members can submit questions regarding ethics and compliance and our internal experts will provide an answer plus helpful resources with information. And since there is no competition in compliance, we respond thematically to high-level questions in the BELA Asks series for the benefit of E&C teams everywhere.

Learn more about BELA, request guest access to the Member Resource Hub, and connect with a BELA Engagement Director at www.ethisphere.com/bela

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