ANTI-BRIBERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - PART 1 - by Nik Zafri

While the world is not fully out of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are still facing another pandemic what seems to have no cure to it. This pandemic is known as Bribery.

Bribery in any forms has evolved itself to become part of the twisted culture in many industries and sectors - even in the civil services.

It is known as a hindrance to good and clean practices, governance, economy, social and even moral. Hence it has also lead to imbalance and creation of gaps between the rich and the poor via means of taxation and cost of living. The quality and safety of products and services provided are also badly affected by bribery.

Enforcement of the law on many cases of bribery; whilst making good progress; has also been known to meet dead-ends when powerful figures decide to intervene in the judiciary system.

Despite many government endless efforts to address bribery domestically or internationally, the progress seem to be too slow which is evident when arrests have been made only to certain small groups rather than the big planners behind bribery. 

As we all know, having laws without proper guidelines and monitoring of compliance will not be effective. Organizations and industries must adopt a self-governance by having their own standards, policies and procedures.

This is the reason why we need a specific standard now known as ISO 37000 - an ambitious effort to reduce risks of bribery in organizations and industries.

However, I still see the infamous disclaimer :

"Conformity with this document cannot provide assurance that no bribery has occurred or will occur in relation to the organization, as it is not possible to completely eliminate the risk of bribery. However, this document can help the organization implement reasonable and proportionate measures designed to prevent, detect and respond to bribery"

I believe that having the proper policies and documented information based on this standard can become evidence in the eyes of the law - thus, I honestly think that this statement is a little redundant.

I also believe that both law and standard should also provide justice to innocent victims or black sheeps which may require element of forensic auditing skills and just like financial audit, the auditors should be able to lodge reports once proven to the authorities without any tampering from the organization being audited whether the auditor is internal (staff) or an external auditor from the certification body.