The Center for Global Business Ethics and Law at Suffolk University’s Sawyer Business School is sponsoring the 2012 Global Sustainability Conference on March 21, to discuss global corruption in the marketplace.

Corruption arises when a public office is used for the purpose of private gain. The private sector frequently acts as the supply-side of corrupt payments, and bribery often becomes a strategy of market entry. However, corruption has far-reaching consequences that undermine economic growth and poverty reduction.

Several diplomatic, regulatory, economic, and legal experts will speak at the upcoming conference, which will be held in Suffolk University’s Law School. They will address global corruption as a destabilizing economic force and will discuss good corporate governance and transparency as a solution.

Keynote speaker Jim O’Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, will discuss his research on BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and China), which are four countries that have major economic growth opportunities.

The conference will also feature a panel presentation from several international and domestic economic experts, including Hon. Fernando de Mello Barreto, Consul General of Brazil in Boston; Hon. Friedrich Loehr, Consul General of Germany in Boston; and William Emmons, Senior Vice President and economist at the Federal Reserve Bank in St. Louis.

Cameron F. Kerry, the General Counsel at the US Department of Commerce, will deliver the closing address, entitled, “Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.”

To celebrate institutions that are exemplary leaders, the Center for Global Business Ethics and Law will present its annual Corporate Sustainability Award. This year’s recipient, Patrón Spirits Company, is being honored for its dedication to the United Nations’ standards of corporate development. Director of Communications Greg Cohen will accept the award on the company’s behalf.

To RSVP for the event, contact Angela Coletta at 617-573-8658 or by email.