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That’ll do nicely
Risk managers have a part to play in helping to stamp out bribery. The IRM’s new guide on the issue is here to help
Not so long ago, giving someone a back-hander to move a project along, or treating potential clients – even government officials – to lavish nights out was seen by many organisations as a cost of doing business. It was a part of large areas of commercial life, a part, in fact, of business culture.
Many of the recipients had a great time, no doubt. But now we understand those practices and many more less-savoury activities as bribery. Yet giving something its proper name is only the beginning of the battle.
As many of you will know, the UK’s Bribery Act of 2010 made it an offence for businesses to “fail to prevent” people either working directly for them, or those associated with them, from bribing another person on their behalf. To have a defence against this law, organisations need to be able to prove that they have adequate procedures in place to prevent associates bribing others.
That makes anti-bribery procedures a live issue for risk managers. And that’s why the IRM – together with Transparency International UK – is this month publishing new guidance to help risk managers in the fight against this form of corruption: The Bribery Risk Guide.
The task of stamping out bribery is formidable. It is often difficult to define because bribery is not always visible and does not always involve money. It takes place globally on a huge scale. Research shows that about one in four people paid a bribe in the last year. The World Bank reckons that the value of bribes offered annually is over US$1 trillion.
And the risks are not simply a fine under the Bribery Act for those caught out. Individuals involved can face imprisonment, and the business can find their contracts terminated, their services and products blacklisted, and they face significant reputational damage as the case drags on for years through the courts.
The fact that the press reports on so many of these cases means that many organisations do not have adequate procedures in place to combat bribery. Those measures have to exist from the very top of the business right down to employees working in difficult circumstances where a culture of bribery is endemic. Simple solutions can be very effective. For example,
faced with the bribery of its delivery drivers in Myanmar, the beverages company Coca-Cola required its truckers to carry a laminated card saying that they were forbidden to pay bribes. The initiative met with some resistance, but over time the practice diminished. Sometimes more complex solutions are needed.
Our Bribery Risk Guide can help risk managers identify and evaluate their exposures to the risk of bribery. It explains how risk assessment fits into the development and maintenance of an organisation’s wider anti-bribery programme. And while it won’t win the war against corruption overnight, it is another step in the right direction.
