What’s the first step when addressing the bribery and corruption crisis?

We always say that an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. That applies well to risk management and anti-fraud, anti-corruption strategies in your organisation when you aim to tackle all possible risks by implementing adequate procedures. That’s a meritorious and proactive approach and mitigating your organisation’s risks with an ethics and compliance strategy is vital to your success.

However, unfortunately, even the best approach exercised is foolproof. Let’s say you reduced the organisational risks by introducing anti-bribery anti-corruption policies in place and screening your trustworthy partners and employees. But suddenly you surprisingly suspect that fraud arose within a firm. What steps do you need to take to evaluate and resolve the potential fraud, bribery and corruption crisis problem?

The first step: investigation

Vigilance from compliance professionals must ensure that fraud is detected within companies. If such suspicions are aroused, a prompt response strategy must be put in place. However, if the suspect is ultimately found innocent, it may dampen employee morale and affect the company’s credibility and reputation. Setting up a committee is an integral step to helping companies investigate any potentially fraudulent activity, the quorum of which should be comprised of senior management, finance, compliance and HR professionals. In the interest of avoiding any internal conflicts of interest, an independent investigation company should be employed to conduct due diligence on the suspect and share the report with the committee for immediate action to be taken against the suspect, if proven guilty.

When the organisation is involved in external investigations, it can be an incredibly stressful time for a company and its employees. The important thing is to not panic – the investigators have a job to do, and the sooner they get to the truth of the situation, the better for everyone. Companies should direct their management and their employees to cooperate fully, while also engaging legal counsel to properly protect the corporation from future litigation.

Corporate fraud & corruption in the UK & UAE 2021

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Addressing a bribery and corruption crisis with a free webinar 

If fraud is detected, it is a criminal matter and the company should make a good faith effort to work with prosecutors and regulators, while making sure to document all control measures and prior steps taken to manage fraud risk. Having a track record of meeting compliance requirements and having proper internal controls in place at the time fraud occurs could have a mitigating effect in terms of potential prosecution and penalties down the road.

Adequately addressing such catastrophe can help you to learn the lesson and strengthen your current risk management systems in place. However, it is also important to understand what are the causal factors and how did it occur. We invite you to explore how to respond to such bribery and corruption crisis by watching the free webinar where our industry experts – Zafar Anjum, CEO at ABAC® and its parent organisation CRI Group, and Robert Youill, Executive Director at Key Risk Consulting Asia, talk about the steps you have to take in the next 48 hours after bribery discovered concerning your organisation and how to identify the gaps in your existing anti-bribery anti-corruption management system.

Watch this free session where we look at bribery and corruption from another point of view or download the eBook prepared by our speakers to have on hand as an action list for bribery and corruption crisis management.