What are the measures to implement to prevent fraud?

Measures to prevent fraud: What approach does your business need to consider?

According to a survey for the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) UK Chapter with the Fraud Advisory Panel, as carried out by the UK consultancy Perpetuity Research, there appears to be a clear-cut, ardent desire from organisations for the mandatory reporting of fraud in England and Wales. There are several measures you can take in order to prevent fraud.

Whilst corporate fraud is underreported to the police, fraud is the most common crime in corporate culture. Those trading in regulated sectors such as finance tends to not report any fraudulent activity, such as money laundering, to the police as they have the clear duty of preparing a suspicious activity report (SAR) should an offence be presumed. Prepping such a report is known to bring advantages such as improved acumen regarding the crime for the authorities however, that’s not to say that it doesn’t come with its disadvantages; the SARs system has been deeply critiqued for producing more data than the police can handle. Police have described feeling inundated regarding such reports and most policing agencies are not coping well with the reported fraud which begs the question – what should organisations do as the preventative measures for fraud?

The ISO 37 family: One of the best measures to prevent fraud

• ISO 37001 Anti-bribery Management Systems (ABMS)
• ISO 37002 Whistleblowing Management Systems (WMS)
• ISO 37301 Compliance Management Systems (CMS)

ISO 37001 Anti-bribery Management Systems (ABMS)

This certification caters to the two biggest components that fall under fraud – bribery and corruption. Much like fraud, bribery and have the potential to cause severe harm to any organisation and industry; consequences consist of monetary deficit, catastrophic legal penalties, damage to brand, organisations reputation and viable expansion. Statistics show that organisations own workforce is its top defence against corruption and hence fraud as most corruption is detected internally. Providing your personnel with the tools needed to prevent bribery and corruption and mitigate associated risks by attaining ISO 37001 training is a pre-emptive way of expressing your organisation’s commitment to ethical sustainability. Your workforce will be able to identify any form of fraud and report it.

ISO 37002 Whistleblowing Management Systems (WMS)

The whistleblowing procedure is one procedure that organisations should consider irrespective of size and industry. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) developed whistleblowing management systems ISO 37002 to ensure that there is a strategy in place and that employees have been made aware of set procedures in the instance of any fraudulent activities.

The ISO Whistleblower Guidelines offers guidance to organisations for launching, implementing, preserving, and refining a whistleblowing management system. The ISO 37002 Whistleblower Management System as a means of promoting and assisting employees in reporting wrongdoing that they may come across in their day-to-day organisational activities in turn improving organisational culture and its governance on such issues and reducing the perils of misconduct.

A Whistleblower Management Systems is typically used to ensure that reports of misconduct are dealt with in a proper and timely manner and is a system implemented to help encourage and safeguard whistleblowers to do the morally correct thing. Here at ABAC®, we offer training on the ISO 37002 to aid in enhancing corporate culture, so employees feel comfortable implementing the whistleblowing procedure where needed. To enhance the learning experience, our course contains real-life settings where whistleblowing has assisted in inhibiting failure and instances where whistleblowing could have helped prevent disasters. Find out more about the ISO 37002 or view the brochure below.

ISO 37301 Compliance Management Systems

The ISO 37301 is an extensively recognised standard that offers supervision in verifying, expanding, implementing, assessing, sustaining, and developing an organisation’s compliance management system.

The ISO 37301 is established in encompassing all compliance-related matters. This is comprehensive of anti-trust, fraud, misconduct, export control, anti-money laundering, and other unexpected risks which can impact any organisation at any point in time. When performing regular risk assessments, corporate compliance tends to consistently rank as one of the more significant risks therefore the implementation and certification of a compliance system aids in preserving an organisations integrity. Not only that, but a compliance system would also ensure that compliance is carried out with all applicable rules and regulations in a systematic, structured, and proactive manner.

The ISO 37301 eases organisations into conforming with the legislature that is pertinent to them and with the commitments adopted by their stakeholders. This compliance management system can also help to lessen the economic or reputational risks of waning compliance with the legislature and are a vital means for organisations to comply with their corporate social responsibility policies. CMS’s indubitably help to generate a culture of integrity and compliance that fosters sustained success and the survival of the organisation. Find out more about ISO 37301 or view the brochure below.

Mitigating fraud can be an extensive and challenging task if you don’t know where to start. Why not contact us here at ABAC? We have experts ranging from all backgrounds and industries to ensure that your organisation will receive the bespoke service it needs to function ethically and systematically.

About ABAC® Center of Excellence

ABAC® Center of Excellence is an independent certification body powered by CRI Group. ABAC® offers a complete suite of services and solutions designed to educate, equip and support the world’s leading business organisations with the latest best-in-practice risk & performance assessments, systems improvement & standards certification. Find out more about ABAC®!

ABAC® programs protect your organisation from damaging litigation & safeguard your business in the global marketplace by providing certification & training in internationally recognised ISO standards, such as ISO 37001 Anti-Bribery Management Systems, ISO 37301 Compliance Management Systems and ISO 31000 Risk Management Systems.