Bribery — there's an ISO standard coming to defeat that

The bribery industry is valued at around US$1 trillion each year according to the World Bank. The ‘unlevel’ playing field created by endemic bribery damages companies and economies and is a major factor in poverty.

Legislation and international agreements have tried to address the issue of bribery but it remains a significant problem.

Now, ISO has a new standard in development that aims to combat bribery. It has reached the final stage before publication.

The draft version of the ISO standard got an overwhelming 91% vote of confidence from the ISO members involved in its creation.

ISO 37001, Anti-bribery management systems, is designed to help organisations implement effective measures to prevent and address bribery, and instil a culture of honesty, transparency and integrity. While it cannot guarantee that bribery will not occur, it can provide the tools and systems to greatly reduce the risk and help organisations deal with it effectively if it does arise.

Implementing ISO 37001 will also provide reassurance among investors and other stakeholders that an organisation has an effective system in place to manage the risk of bribery.

Neill Stansbury, chair of the ISO project committee developing the standard, said the strong result of the vote gave the committee even greater confidence in the standard’s ultimate potential.

“Bribery can be prevented if organisations in the public and private sectors, with genuine intent, implement effective controls.

“The overwhelming positive vote on the draft version of ISO 37001 gives us further confidence that it will be an effective tool to help organisations of all kinds take effective measures to combat bribery in all its forms.”

The draft version of ISO 37001 can be purchased from SAI Global or through the ISO Store.

The final version of ISO 37001 is expected to be published later this year.