Webinar Recording: ISO 37001 ABMS – a good international practice

Anti-corruption and anti-bribery have become a strategic agenda in the world for many countries and many organisational systems are making efforts towards mitigation of bribery. A good example is Malaysia, where the seemingly never-ending battle to fight bribery and corruption took a decidedly different turn last year, as specific measures from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) went into effect in 2020 and we are starting to see the positive results. Pristine Offshore Sdn Bhd has become the first company to be charged with the newly introduced provision. Read more here on Malaysia’s fight against bribery and corruption. 

Bribery is considered a serious business risk in many countries and sectors across the world. The incidents of bribery, fraud, and corruption can have a serious detrimental effect on the repute, marketability, and future existence of organisations. This effect is more pronounced when hefty legal fines and penalties are imposed under a law that eventually tarnishes the image of the organisation, and, in certain cases, creates pronounced financial stress.

ISO 37001 ABMS solution for all industries

The ISO 37001 is a flexible tool for small, medium, and large companies aimed at curtailing such spread of bribery within the functionality of the organisation by designing measures that can lead to early detection, appropriate response, and prevention.

ABMS can be tailored according to the nature, needs, and size of the organisation. It aids compliance by introducing anti-bribery policies and procedures in line with international good practices and legal requirements according to the countries in which it operates. Bribery is declared a strict liability offence and/or illegal in most countries in the world.

The fact is, any company is potentially susceptible to bribery and corruption. Some industries face increased risk – which is why ABAC® tailors ISO 37001 ABMS solutions for companies across a wide range of industries, including automotive, aviation, insurance, pharma/healthcare, property, IT/telecommunications, financial, oil and energy, and others. In today’s business climate, no organisation can afford the risk of being non-compliant and unprotected. Below are some of the issues facing companies in different industries, overviewed by CRI Group:

The organisation’s adoption of this certification specifies various anti-bribery policies and procedures, which it should implement as part of its internalised compliance procedure, in order to minimise their risk by preventing bribery and deal with an incidence of bribery at an early stage. These include adopting an anti-bribery policy, appointing a person to oversee anti-bribery compliance, training, risk assessments, and due diligence on projects and business associates, implementing financial and commercial controls and introducing reporting and investigation procedures.

Some required measures might already exist within the organisation and the adoption of the ISO 37001 ABMS will integrate enhanced measures with respect to anti-bribery for minimisation of risk. This independent certification will work once the organisation complies with all the policies and procedures for effectiveness.

Therefore, in adverse consequences when a company is alleged of being engaged in bribery, the ABMS can be used as a defense in law to prove and evidence to the fact, that the organisation takes all possible anti-bribery measures in terms of procedures and policies to prevent such crime. This may be the standard single best advantage.

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Becoming compliant with ISO 37001 certification ensures corporate social responsibility

In today’s world for corporate boards, corruption can no more be addressed as a legalistic or compliance issue. It can also not be looked at as an ethical issue. Therefore, the standard ensures uniformity in curbing bribery and corruption from within.  Adoption and compliance with the ISO 37001 certification will be far cheaper and less disruptive for an organisation to implement controls to prevent bribery from occurring than to deal with the legal cases and heavy penalties in case bribery does surface.

Corporate responsibility also sometimes known as corporate social responsibility is a key area of concern here. It is defined as the responsibility of an organisation for the impacts of its decisions on society and the environment above and beyond its legal obligations, through transparent and ethical behavior. In our view, the international coordination on anti-bribery is growing stronger due to the introduction of a global standard in the shape of ISO 37001 ABMS which is being offered by third-party certifiers such as the ABAC® Center of Excellence. Overall this Standard acts as a benchmark to guide compliance officers as they work to determine when and how they deploy resources which will act as a justification for leadership, regulators, and stakeholders.

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