ISO 37001 Anti-Bribery Management System

Nothing undermines effective institutions and equitable business more than bribery. ISO 37001 addresses one of the world’s most destructive and challenging issues head-on, and demonstrates a committed approach to stamping out corruption.

Almost every business or organisation has to make financial transactions to operate effectively, and where such a value exchange is passed from one person or organisation to another, there exists the opportunity for bribery.

ISO 37001 is a system designed to enable an organisation to implement processes to limit the potential for bribery. Put simply, the system works to instil an anti-bribery culture within an organisation by a process of risk assessment, training, and communication to staff members as well as contractors, suppliers, and partners.

For the system to work effectively, it should be endorsed by top-level management and utilised by all departments, however, there are some departments such as Risk Management, Procurement, Human Resources and Global Mobility who should play a key role alongside the finance department in the implementation of financial control, followed up with reporting and investigation as required. Such actions can effectively demonstrate to all members and partners of your organisation that best practice controls are in place to mitigate the potential for bribery. Adherence to the ISO 37001 will also be invaluable should a criminal investigation be required.

As the ISO 37001 is based on the high-level structure for management system standards, it can be easily integrated into existing management systems such as ISO 9001 or ISO 27001. Once in place, the system will give an organisation the ability to substantially reduce the risk of bribery occurring as well as knowledge of how to effectively address such a situation should it occur.