A new international standard for anti-bribery and corruption procedures has raised hopes that certification might serve as a defense against corporate criminal liability.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) published ISO 37001, a new international standard aimed at creating a uniform understanding of and corresponding benchmarks for improving anti-bribery and corruption (ABC) processes.
The standard provides a list of minimum requirements necessary for a reliable anti-bribery compliance programme, obtainable through certification, with the objective of reassuring companies, customers, investors and stakeholders that their compliance function is taking reasonable steps to prevent bribery across geographies and supply chains. However, companies should not view certification as the ultimate measure of anti-bribery controls. Instead, they should recognize that each company has a unique risk profile, which in turn warrants an individualized approach to due diligence.
FRA's Carlo Miani discusses in Fraud Intelligence the pros and cons of the standard, along with how it can be incorporated into an, ultimately, bespoke approach.
