ISO 37001 is the new international standard designed to help organizations implement an anti-bribery management system. It specifies a series of measures your organization can implement to help prevent, detect and address bribery.

Designed to be integrated into your organization’s existing management processes and controls, ISO 37001 also follows the common ISO structure for management system standards, for easy integration with ISO 9001 for example.

The requirements specified by ISO 37001 address two key areas:

  • Bribery by the organization, its personnel or business associates for its own gain
  • Bribery of the organization, its personnel or business associates in relation to its activities

ISO 37001:2016 specifies requirements and provides guidance for establishing, implementing, maintaining, reviewing and improving an anti-bribery management system. The system can be stand-alone or can be integrated into an overall management system. ISO 37001:2016 addresses the following in relation to the organization’s activities:

  • bribery in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors;
  • bribery by the organization;
  • bribery by the organization’s personnel acting on the organization’s behalf or for its benefit;
  • bribery by the organization’s business associates acting on the organization’s behalf or for its benefit;
  • bribery of the organization;
  • bribery of the organization’s personnel in relation to the organization’s activities;
  • bribery of the organization’s business associates in relation to the organization’s activities;
  • direct and indirect bribery (e.g. a bribe offered or accepted through or by a third party).

ISO 37001:2016 is applicable only to bribery. It sets out requirements and provides guidance for a management system designed to help an organization to prevent, detect and respond to bribery and comply with anti-bribery laws and voluntary commitments applicable to its activities.

ISO 37001:2016 does not specifically address fraud, cartels and other anti-trust/competition offences, money-laundering or other activities related to corrupt practices, although an organization can choose to extend the scope of the management system to include such activities.

The requirements of ISO 37001:2016 are generic and are intended to be applicable to all organizations (or parts of an organization), regardless of type, size and nature of activity, and whether in the public, private or not-for-profit sectors. The extent of application of these requirements depends on the factors specified in 4.1, 4.2 and 4.5.

Benefits of ISO 37001:

  • Assisting organizations / companies in implementing anti-bribery management system.
  • Increased control of the potential for bribery in an organization.
  • Assist in providing guarantees to the management and owners of organizations / companies, as well as funders, shareholders, customers and other business associates, that the organization has been internationally recognized in the conduct of anti-bribery controls.
  • In the case of investigations, it helps provide evidence to the authorities that the organization has taken steps to prevent bribery.
  • ISO 37001 provides guidance on prevention of anti-bribery and corruption in an organization or company.
  • Increase the credibility of the company as an organization that has been obedient to anti-bribery regulations and government regulations.
  • Opening your organization to external scrutiny of the effectiveness of your anti-bribery policies and processes
  • Demonstrating compliance to relevant legislation such as the Bribery Act 2010
  • Collaborating with stakeholders to monitor and manage risk throughout your organization and supply chain
  • Ensuring that suppliers, sub-contractors and agents are committed to anti-bribery best practice