Anti-bribery Management Systems

 

Bribery is one of the most devastating and complex issues of our time, and it continues to be ubiquitous despite national and international attempts to resist it. Unfortunately, it has become a fact of life.

Bribes are paid in the amount of $1 trillion each year over the world, according to the World Bank. Corruption is expected to cost many times that amount in terms of economic damage.

Corruption is unquestionably one of the most serious threats to any organization. There are a variety of international agreements and legislations that can subject the business to a greater range of sanctions, in addition to the enormous reputational loss it can inflict and the subsequent in-country legal and criminal ramifications. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the United States, the UK Anti-Bribery Act, and the French Sapin II Law are just a few examples.

 

Bribery is a substantial obstacle to international trade on a worldwide scale, and it has a significant negative influence on staff morale within a firm. It causes grave social, moral, economic, and political difficulties, as well as endangering good governance and stifling competitiveness. It erodes the rule of law and jeopardizes human rights. On the other side, it raises the expense of doing business, raises the cost of goods and services, and lowers the quality of products and services, eroding trust in institutions and interfering with market fairness and efficiency.

The standard lays out a set of anti-bribery measures that an organization must implement and address, all of which are internationally recognized as best practices:

• Bribery by the organization, its personnel, or business allies acting on behalf of or for the profit of the organization.
• Bribery of the organization, its employees, or business associates in connection with the organization’s operations.

This standard can be utilized by any organization, small or large in the public, private, or non-profit sectors, in any country. It’s a versatile tool that can be tailored to the size and type of the company, as well as the bribery risk it faces. However, how would this new norm assist businesses? Listed below are a few examples:

• Ensuring adherence to international anti-bribery best practices.
• Assurance that a corporation is taking appropriate efforts to prevent bribery to management, investors, business associates, employees, and other stakeholders.

 

Through international accords and national regulations, governments have made headway in combating bribery. Bribery is illegal in most jurisdictions, and there is a growing trend to hold corporations, as well as individuals, accountable for their actions.

However, the law alone will not be sufficient to resolve this issue. Organizations, too, have a responsibility to participate proactively in combatting this negative aspect known as bribery, which can be done systematically by implementing an anti-bribery system.

And this can be accomplished through the implementation of an anti-bribery management system, such as the one described in this document – the standard “ISO 37001: Anti-bribery management systems – Requirements with guidance for use” – as well as leadership commitment to establishing a culture of integrity, transparency, openness, and compliance.

An anti-bribery management system is intended to instill an anti-bribery culture within a company and apply suitable controls, increasing the likelihood of discovering bribery and reducing its occurrence in the first place.

Moreover, it also reduces the danger of bribery and can show your management, employees, owners, funders, customers, and other business associates that you have implemented internationally recognized good-practice anti-bribery policies. It can also serve as proof that you took reasonable precautions to avoid bribery in the event of a criminal investigation.

At CEAI we endeavor to update and expand a member’s technical knowledge and leadership development through CEAI Academy on a regular basis. Moreover, Consulting Engineers Association of India (CEAI) aims to remind employers, employees, and others that they all have a role to play in keeping the workplace safer.