ILO Monitor: COVID-19 and the world of work, 2nd update

ILO (International Labour Organization) has updated “ILO Monitor: COVID-19 and the world of work. Second edition”. Since the first edition, the COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated in terms of intensity and expanded its global reach. According to ILO, full or partial lockdown measures are now affecting almost 2.7 billion workers, representing around 81% of the world’s workforce. Leaders and businesses across a range of economic sectors are facing difficult decisions, as COVID-19 is changing their business. There are many cases where COVID-19 has prompted innovative leadership in an attempt to avoid catastrophic losses, and a potential end to operations and or even solvency.

COVID-19 crisis is leaving millions of workers vulnerable to income loss and layoffs. According to ILO new edition, employment contraction has already begun on a large scale in many countries. Changes in working hours (which reflect both layoffs and other temporary reductions) reflect the new reality of the current labour market situation. As of 1 April 2020, the ILO’s estimates that global working hours will decline by 6.7% in the second quarter of 2020, which is equivalent to 195 million full-time workers. 

The ILO estimates that 1.25 billion workers, representing almost 38% of the global workforce, are employed in sectors such as retail trade, accommodation, food services, and manufacturing. Dues to Covid-19 crisis these are sectors that are now facing a severe decline in output and consequently a dramatic impact on the world’s workforce. The workforce in high risk of displacement will experience greater challenges in regaining their livelihoods during the recovery period. 

>Read the full report here!

ILO discusses how policy responses are critical now in order to provide immediate relief to workers and enterprises and protect livelihoods and economically viable businesses. According to the ILO report, the final tally of annual job losses will depend on how much longer will COVID-19 continue to impact the world and whatever measures taken to mitigate its impact. Stay updated, subscribe for more insights like these! 

Managing your people through COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is undeniable affecting the world. And the situation is changing at an hourly rate as we go into a second global lockdown. Businesses are having to adapt quickly to survive, i.e. cutting steps in their hiring process, and no-one knows how this will play out. However, there are ways you can mitigate the impact, learn how with this FREE ebook. Taken as a whole, this ebook is the perfect primer for any HR professional, business leader and companies looking to avoid employee background screening risks. It provides the tools and knowledge needed to stay ahead of COVID-19 effectively. Read the answers to the following questions:

• How to turn the tide’ on coronavirus crisis?;
• COVID-19 Action point checklist;
• Background Screening: Essential Checks;
• Six steps for good practice in connection with COVID-19;
• 11 Steps to Reduce Personnel Costs;
• COVID-19 General advice;
• How to remove any danger to your business during COVID-19;
• … and more!

> Download your “Employee Screening during COVID-19: everything you need to know and more!“ FREE ebook here![/vc_column_text][accordion_father][accordion_son title=”Who is ILO?” clr=”#ffffff” bgclr=”#1e73be”]The ILO was founded in 1919, in the wake of a destructive war, to pursue a vision based on the premise that universal, lasting peace can be established only if it is based on social justice. The ILO became the first specialized agency of the UN in 1946.[/accordion_son][accordion_son title=”About CRI Group” clr=”#ffffff” bgclr=”#1e73be”]Based in London, CRI Group works with companies across the Americas, Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia-Pacific as a one-stop international Risk Management, Employee Background Screening, Business Intelligence, Due Diligence, Compliance Solutions and other professional Investigative Research solutions provider. We have the largest proprietary network of background-screening analysts and investigators across the Middle East and Asia. Our global presence ensures that no matter how international your operations are we have the network needed to provide you with all you need, wherever you happen to be. CRI Group also holds BS 102000:2013 and BS 7858:2012 Certifications, is an HRO certified provider and partner with Oracle.

In 2016, CRI Group launched Anti-Bribery Anti-Corruption (ABAC®) Center of Excellence – an independent certification body established for ISO 37001:2016 Anti-Bribery Management Systems, ISO 37301 Compliance Management Systems and ISO 31000:2018 Risk Management, providing training and certification. ABAC® operates through its global network of certified ethics and compliance professionals, qualified auditors and other certified professionals. As a result, CRI Group’s global team of certified fraud examiners work as a discreet white-labelled supplier to some of the world’s largest organisations. Contact ABAC® for more on ISO Certification and training.[/accordion_son][/accordion_father]

Have you read…

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Filed under: All Industries, All Regions, COVID-19 Insights, Industry Insights, Resources by admin
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Debugging fears that paralyse fraud prevention

Debug fears for fraud prevention

Even though companies understand the fraud risk factor – nearly 77 per cent of HR professionals accept that there is a risk that employees can initiate fraudulent activity because of the work-from-home arrangement during the pandemic – more often than not, companies do not take action to implement robust fraud prevention processes in place until the organisation is exposed to fraud or appear in the news due to an investigation, incident, or external and (or) internal violation. Based on the article by ACFE, we aim to answer why companies wouldn’t adopt fraud prevention and detection measures proactively. 

The answer is fear. It prevents business leaders from being proactive about fighting fraud. Business analytical tools and systems enable companies to identify red flags quickly, but they do not work as fraud prevention tools. 67 per cent of CRI® Group’s background screening survey respondents said they encountered one type of fraud – employee fraud – in their career. It’s alarming to imagine how others have encountered many other types of fraud. And still, companies pay lip service to efforts to fight fraud. So how the fear factor plays into the decision to fight fraud?

Fear of associated expenses

A fraud prevention tool is a cost you don’t always recognise an immediate return. Consider it like health or car insurance – when it comes to identifying and preventing risk and potential fraud, returns can be harder to quantify.

There are some concerns about spending money on a system that might or might not identify fraud. And if the system does identify fraudulent activity, companies are now obligated to spend more for the additional investigation and possible litigation. It might not be a significant expense for some large organisations, but the budget is better reinvested toward a company’s bottom line.

When trying to save their expenses, organisations forget that expense fraud is one of the most common forms of occupational fraud: employees fudging on their expense accounts. Earlier this year, Lookers (A London-listed company) warned investors they might be unable to buy and sell its shares from the beginning of July because of potential fraud on its books – confirming a £19m charge to correct books after fraud inquiry. Whether through fictitious charges, fake receipts or invoices, or other improper use of expense funds, an expense account is sometimes seen as a low-risk, high-reward area for fraud. It shouldn’t be. Follow these five tips for preventing and detecting expensive fraud.

Fear of technology

Based on ACFE, “companies are concerned that implementing new software technology might increase their exposure to fraud via data breaches. They’re also concerned that technology will replace internal auditors. While data encryption and similar tools can combat the risk of data breaches, addressing personnel concerns are trickier.” Technology is meant to assist but not to replace people. It helps identify the red flags, but human input and investigation are required to determine if fraud is occurring and check the facts. 

Appointing a fraud investigator is a good idea in this case. Fraud investigators are the front line of establishing the facts of suspected fraud or other unethical business behaviour. A fraud investigator’s skillset and wide knowledge of fraud laws, evidence gathering, and interviewing make them the go-to expert for investigating insurance fraud, financial fraud, procurement fraud, asset recovery, cyber fraud, healthcare fraud, retail fraud, etc. In this article about fraud investigators’ role, we explore their key functions, responsibilities and knowledge, and how their skillset helps organisations.

Fear of reputation loss

“Companies might fear their reputations will take a hit if they uncover ongoing fraud schemes. Social media has become a prevalent form of information sharing, so all it takes is the hint of a rumour, and the damage is done. Employees might post the information — or alleged information — that makes it appear as though a company is attempting to hide something”, based on ACFE. This comes as the company’s advantage to be open with employees to fight fraud. Employees are less likely to whistleblow in public when they are safe and have internal options to report fraud and discrepancies.

The key ways of managing the company’s reputation are being transparent, protecting data, and conducting due diligence. It may sometimes feel like your company’s reputation is out of your control. However, you can take steps to help manage your reputation and help steer the conversation. It becomes more difficult when you wait and try to undo later the damage that has already been done. That’s why being proactive in maintaining a positive reputation is the best strategy.

Fighting fraud on the front line is key

Companies must realise that the benefits of fighting fraud far outweigh the fears. Engagement in an early fraud education process acts as a buffer, leading to fewer fraudulent losses. Procurement and payables professionals must implement efficient processes that address red flags and track — early and upfront — non-adherence to mandates. Below is a quick overview of best practices for engaging analytic tools and front-line staff to identify and prevent fraud.

• Tone at the Top: Of course, top-level management must be committed to addressing fraud prevention. However, it’s just as important for middle managers to adopt a zero-tolerance policy toward fraud. A lack of integrity can be contagious. If workers see their supervisors’ rubberstamping processes, it gives them little incentive to raise concerns when they find inconsistencies.
• Segregation of duties: No one should be responsible for an entire accounting function. The individual who sets up a vendor or client shouldn’t be the same person who approves invoice payments. It’s vital to have multiple eyes on the process, especially in smaller organisations where segregation of accounting duties might be limited or non-existent.
• Create a fraud-fighting culture: The very perception of detection helps prevent fraud. A fraud-prevention overview should be part of new employee orientation. Companies also should sign off on internal codes of ethics that outline the steps and procedures employees can take if they suspect fraud. Tips are consistently, and by far, the most common detection method. According to the Report to the Nations, tips detected more than 40 per cent of all cases. Publicise a hotline number internally and externally for your vendors — one of your employees might even be seeking to collude with a client!
• Training and process audit: Perform anti-fraud training for employees annually, at a minimum. Increase your anti-fraud training if you have a substantial number of new employees coming on board. Annual fraud awareness and detection training sends a clear message to employees about your organisation’s high standards and could deter fraudulent activity. Vet suppliers and clients. If you want to avert various fraudulent schemes, you must understand the red flags to look for when onboarding a supplier or client. Vendor vetting in real-time can mitigate upfront risks and dictate those actions required to prevent fraud from slipping undetected through the system. Vendor portals prove invaluable for vetting suppliers using automated data validation.
• Take action: There’s no reason to identify or perform analysis if you’re unwilling to take action. Fraud prevention software can help you do more than detect fraud — it can highlight poor processes that might expose you to fraud. For example, you might have a legitimate vendor or client, but software can raise a red flag because of gaps in your setup process. Analyse results, make changes, monitor and constantly learn from your processes.

Don’t let fear take control

We must help diminish the fears that impede the fight against fraud. At CRI® Group, we know that we can effectively and together use the needed resources to combat them when you acknowledge those fears. We believe that analytics tools and proactive monitoring can turn idle threats into reality.

Your business is at far greater risk for losses due to fraud than organisations that take advantage of fraud prevention tools to leverage their resources: the larger the organisation, the more complex and multi-faceted the governance and responsibility matrix for fraud detection. Passive detection methods aren’t enough anymore. It’s been proven repeatedly that instilling proactive efforts to discover or reduce fraud will increase the bottom line and enhance a company’s reputation. Our fraud examiners can assist you, don’t allow fear to paralyse you into inaction.

Free E-Book | Risk Management & ABMS Playbook

The Risk Management & ABMS Playbook provides tools, checklists, case studies, FAQs and other resources to help you lead your organisation into better preparedness and compliance. Our experts share their plays to help you reduce risk, thereby preventing and detecting more fraud.

The first section addresses risk management directly: proper third-party due diligence and critical background screening take centre stage for this game plan. Section two tackles bribery and corruption, with tried-and-true measures you can implement to stay better protected and comply with strict laws and regulations.

DOWNLOAD FREE EBOOK

About CRI® Group

Based in London, CRI® Group works with companies across the Americas, Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia-Pacific as a one-stop international Risk Management, Employee Background Screening, Business Intelligence, Due Diligence, Compliance Solutions and other professional Investigative Research solutions provider. We have the largest proprietary network of background screening analysts and investigators across the Middle East and Asia. Our global presence ensures that no matter how international your operations are, we have the network needed to provide you with all you need, wherever you happen to be. CRI® Group also holds BS 102000:2013 and BS 7858:2012 Certifications, is an HRO certified provider and partner with Oracle.

In 2016, CRI® Group launched the Anti-Bribery Anti-Corruption (ABAC®) Center of Excellence – an independent certification body established for ISO 37001:2016 Anti-Bribery Management Systems, ISO 37301 Compliance Management Systems and ISO 31000:2018 Risk Management, providing training and certification. ABAC® operates through its global network of certified ethics and compliance professionals, qualified auditors and other certified professionals. As a result, CRI® Group’s global team of certified fraud examiners work as a discreet white-labelled supplier to some of the world’s largest organisations. Contact ABAC® for more on ISO Certification and training.

CONTACT CRI® GROUP

Speak up | Report Illegal, Unethical or Improper Behaviour

If you find yourself in an ethical dilemma or suspect inappropriate or illegal conduct, and you feel uncomfortable reporting through normal communication channels or wish to raise the issue anonymously, use CRI® Group’s Compliance Hotline. The Compliance Hotline is a secure and confidential reporting channel managed by an independent provider. When reporting a concern in good faith, you will be protected by CRI® Group’s Non-Retaliation Policy.

COMPLIANCE HOTLINE

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The Unseen Enemy: Insurance Fraud – Part I

This three-part series of articles examines the problem of insurance fraud, including its pervasiveness and general characteristics in the United States, the United Kingdom and the world. Insurance fraud is a widespread problem that requires real solutions and is often difficult to detect and combat.

Part One of the series, “What is Insurance Fraud,” provides an introduction to a topic that is important for any business leader, insurance professional, compliance agent or fraud investigator. Part Two, “How do Companies Detect Insurance Fraud,” details red flags of insurance fraud that help tip off investigators to possible illegal behaviour. Part Three, “Anatomy of an Insurance Fraud Investigation,” provides a look at case studies and reveals key tips for handling a successful investigation. To receive the next series subscribe to our monthly newsletter subscribe now!

Taken as a whole, this series is the perfect primer for any insurance fraud professional and companies looking to avoid becoming victims of insurance fraudulent claims. It provides the tools and knowledge needed to effectively combat insurance fraud.

Insurance Fraud Consequences Around the World

Fraudulent claims costs an estimated $40 to $80 billion per year in the U.S. alone. According to Cifas, the UK’s leading fraud prevention service, members report a 27% rise in false insurance claims across the UK in the past year, with spikes in household and motor insurance. Cifas members also reported the following:

• Household insurance fraudulent claims have increased by 52%, with claimants aged 31-40 the biggest culprits
• motor insurance fraudulent claims have increased by 45%, with 21-30 year-olds making up the largest group
• Fronting insurance is on the decline overall, however the share of millennials (21-30 year-olds) committing the offence increased by 18% in 2018.

Fraudulent claims are deliberately undetectable, therefore it’s hard to place an exact value on the money stolen. According to Alfred Manes’ “Insurance Crimes” in the Journal of Law and Criminology, the official number of cases does not correlate with the reality. The Coalition Against Insurance Fraud Annual Report estimates that a total of about $80 billion was lost in the US in 2006. 

• Insurance Information Institute estimates that the insurance fraud accounts for about 10% of the property insurance industry’s incurred losses and loss adjustment expenses.
• The National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association’s “The Problem of Health Care Fraud” estimates that 3% of the health care industry’s expenditures in the U.S. are due to fraudulent activities, amounting to a cost of about $51 billion.
• David A. Hyman writes in “Health Care Fraud and Abuse” estimates that 10% of the total healthcare spending in the US to fraud—about $115 billion annually. 

Consider these statistics:

• According to Federal Bureau of Investigation’s “FBI — Insurance Fraud,” non-health insurance fraud costs an estimated $40 billion per year – consequently this increases the premiums for the average U.S. family between $400 and $700 annually. 
• J.E. Smith’s book “The Trillion Dollar Insurance Crook” puts the true cost fraud committed in the US at 33% to 38% of the total cash flow through the system
• In the UK, the Insurance Fraud Bureau estimates that the loss due to insurance fraud is about £1.5 billion ($3.08 billion), causing a 5% increase in insurance premiums
• Insurance Bureau of Canada “Cost of Personal Injury Fraud” estimates that personal injury fraud costs about C$500 million annually.
• “Indiaforensic Study on quantification of fraud losses to Indian Insurance Sector” estimates that Insurance frauds in India costs about $6.25 billion annually.

Part One: What is Insurance Fraud?

It’s been called an epidemic and is a scourge of insurance providers, private companies and consumers alike. But what is it, how do companies detect it, and how does an insurance fraud investigator unravel it? In this part one of a three-part series, we will address the first question: What is insurance fraud?

Most of us deal with insurance in various forms throughout our lives. It’s a necessity in some cases through which we pay regular premiums in order to be protected from damages or liability from an unknown future event, such as an accident or illness. For large corporations, insurance can be worth millions, covering things like product liability, workers’ compensation, business interruption and other serious risks. It’s also rife for fraudsters, who often live by the well-known maxim, “follow the money.”

Don’t have time to read the rest?

Taken as a whole, this ebook is the perfect primer for any insurance fraud professional and companies looking to avoid becoming victims of insurance fraud claims. It provides the tools and knowledge needed to effectively combat insurance fraud.

Download your Insurance Fraud Investigations FREE ebook here!

Every type of insurance is vulnerable to insurance fraud. This type of cases can be committed by opportunists – consider claim fraud, where perpetrators invent or exaggerate a claim; or application fraud, where they deliberately or recklessly provide false information when applying for insurance. There are well-known fraudulent insurance claim cases of highly organised criminal gangs with money-making enterprises based on motor-vehicle fraud or health care fraud, for example. But fraud can happen at any point along the process of an insurance claim, by insurance applicants, members/policyholders, third-party claimants or others (including professionals who specialise in pursuing claims for policyholders).

Fraudulent claim cases also cover a wide range of schemes and crimes. The following are some of the most common types of fraud involving the insurance industry, according to the ACFE’s “Insurance Fraud Handbook”:

• Agent and broker schemes
• Underwriting irregularities
• Vehicle insurance schemes
• Property schemes
• Life insurance schemes
• Liability schemes
• Health insurance schemes
• Worker’s compensation schemes

Fraudsters find new ways to pull off their scams, from simply falsifying claims to engaging in mail fraud, identity theft, and forgery, they will make it happen. For example, when looking at just motor vehicle-related fraudulent claims, the types of schemes include the following:

• Vehicle dumping or destroying
• False registration
• Exaggerated repair costs after a car accident
• Faulty airbag replacement
• Faulty windshield replacement

All of the above is intended to enrich the fraudsters at the expense of insurance providers, and, in some cases, other innocent victims. People have even been injured in schemes that involved faked traffic accidents for the purpose of insurance fraud.

Who is Involved?

Often committed by someone directly connected to the insurance policy. This includes the policyholder, applicant and their beneficiaries. However, insurance insiders – i.e. brokers and agents- as well as gatekeepers – i.e. lawyers and accountants, could be behind the scheme. They collude with the policyholder in exchange for a portion of the profits or victimize the policyholder for their own gain. Examples include:

• A doctor submitting improper medical coding to receive a higher payment than they are entitled to.
• A mechanic fabricating a bill for more repairs than the car required after an accident.
• A private investigator not really doing the investigation on fraudulent behaviour.
• An attorney was helping a claimant fabricate a story about how they hurt themselves on the job so they can receive worker’s compensation.

When times are tough for them financially, people are more likely to commit insurance fraud. You can sometimes discover opportunistic fraud by interviewing the alleged fraudster’s friends or neighbours about their financial situation.

Case Study: The ‘Phantom Collision’ Ring

In 2014 in Los Angeles, a ring of over a dozen insurance fraudsters was busted for fraudulent collision claims. The perpetrators of the frauds recruited family members and friends to help orchestrate fake accidents, ultimately stealing more than $300,000 from auto insurance companies before they were caught.

In some cases, the collisions didn’t even happen at all. All it took were willing participants to make claims in coordination with repair and auto body shops to make the fraudulent claims. In the end, fraud investigators were able to detect a pattern to their claims, helping them unravel the scheme.

The case is reminiscent of a similar instance that made shocking headlines in 1996 when an organised crime ring (also in L.A.) made up of six perpetrators netted a jaw-dropping $20 million in phoney claims. When they were caught, it was discovered that they had staged more than 100 fake accidents, filing $10,000 to $20,000 in claims per incident. For many people who read about the case in the newspapers, it was their first exposure to something of this magnitude, whereas they had previously thought of insurance fraud cases as “one-off” crimes of opportunity.

Case Study: Doctors, Clinics Get in on Insurance Fraud in New York

Healthcare fraud is another area that is susceptible to major fraud conspiracies. Last year in New York City, more than 20 people and more than a dozen corporations were charged in a massive scheme to defraud Medicaid, Medicare and other insurance providers. The operation was so sophisticated; it allegedly involved “office staff, recruiters, managers, billers and money launderers.”

As is common with such cases, the fraudsters targeted poor and vulnerable people to help them execute the fraud. They went into low-income areas and in some cases approached homeless people, offering them cash ($30 to $40) in exchange for them going into clinics that were in on the scheme and ordering unnecessary tests. In many cases, the tests weren’t even performed, and the “patients” didn’t even have a consultation with a doctor.

The massive fraud included doctors and utilised shell companies to help launder the millions of dollars that were processed by the perpetrators. The case, with 878 indictments, is still in the court system.

The Ten Most Common Types of Insurance Fraud

In case you think that fraud is limited to automobiles and healthcare, consider all of the types of insurance that are available – and know that all of them are susceptible to fraud. In fact, investigators from Business Insurance have provided a list titled “10 Most Common Types of Insurance Fraud.” These cases even include staged home fires and faked deaths: 

1. Stolen car
2. Car accident
3. Car damage
4. Health insurance billing fraud
5. Unnecessary medical procedures
6. Staged home fires
7. Storm fraud
8. Abandoned house fire
9. Faked death
10. Renter’s insurance

Investigating Insurance Fraudulent Claims are Best Left to the Experts

With the enormous liability presented by insurance fraud, every organisation should address the risk in their due diligence and fraud prevention programs. The best way to do that is to bring in the experts at CRI Group to help implement this as part of a risk management plan.

When fraud is detected, CRI Group’s investigations cover the full range of fraudulent claim cases, from health care fraud to disability and even fake death claims. CRI Group’s thoroughly trained experts are trained, for example, to look for the tell-tale signs of fraud carefully reviewing claims, medical and hospital records, conducting interviews, examining statements and documents and performing on-site inspections.

In Part Two, we will examine some of the tell-tale signs and red flags of fraudulent claims, and how insurance fraud investigation companies can have a better chance of detecting it before it causes irreparable damage. Like many criminal schemes, this type of cases are often well-hidden – the key is knowing what to look for.

Do you want to read the next series now? Not a problem, this three-part series of articles is part of our “The Unseen Enemy: Insurance Fraud” ebook with actionable advise on how to protect your business and much more. Download the FREE ebook here!

Filed under: Industry Insights, Insurance, Insurance Fraud Investigation, Investigative Solution, Resources by admin
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The Little Book of Big Scams by MET

The Little Book of Big Scams was released in 2012 by The Metropolitan Police Service’s Operation and after its huge success the MET has released a new version. The Little Book of Big Scams is specifically designed to protect small and medium enterprises (SMEs). SMEs accounts for 99% of all UK businesses and employ over 13 million people, as they foster local economies, supporting neighbourhoods and communities – therefore, it is vital to protect these from fraud. The Little Book of Big Scams provides excellent guidelines on how to protect your business from fraud:

1. 10 top tips to help you fight fraud
2. Fraud myth busters
3. It can happen to you (case study)
4. Current fraud trends
5. Fraud prevention
6. Fraud strategy steps
7. Practical advice
8. 12 steps to take action to reduce fraud risk
9. Useful hints and relevant legislation
10. Business frauds you must be aware of 
11. Case studies: fraud does happen
12. How to report fraud

Read The Little Book of Big Scams now! The Metropolitan Police Service is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement in the Metropolitan Police District (currently consists of the 32 London boroughs).

If you find yourself in an ethical dilemma or suspect inappropriate or illegal conduct, report it. 

Our Ethics & Compliance Hotline is an anonymous reporting mechanism that facilitates reporting of possible illegal, unethical, or improper conduct when the normal channels of communication have proven ineffective, or are impractical under the circumstances. This hotline is available to all employees, as well as clients, contractors, vendors and others in a business relationship with CRI Group and ABAC Group.

The Compliance Hotline is a secure and confidential reporting channel managed by an independent provider. When reporting a concern in good faith, you will be protected by CRI Group’s Non-Retaliation Policy. At CRI Group, we are committed to having an open dialogue on ethical dilemmas regardless.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][accordion_father caption_url=””][accordion_son title=”About CRI Group”]Based in London, CRI Group works with companies across the Americas, Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia-Pacific as a one-stop international Risk Management, Employee Background Screening, Business Intelligence, Due Diligence, Compliance Solutions and other professional Investigative Research solutions provider. We have the largest proprietary network of background-screening analysts and investigators across the Middle East and Asia. Our global presence ensures that no matter how international your operations are we have the network needed to provide you with all you need, wherever you happen to be. CRI Group also holds BS 102000:2013 and BS 7858:2012 Certifications, is an HRO certified provider and partner with Oracle.

In 2016, CRI Group launched Anti-Bribery Anti-Corruption (ABAC®) Center of Excellence – an independent certification body established for ISO 37001:2016 Anti-Bribery Management Systems, ISO 37301 Compliance Management Systems and ISO 31000:2018 Risk Management, providing training and certification. ABAC® operates through its global network of certified ethics and compliance professionals, qualified auditors and other certified professionals. As a result, CRI Group’s global team of certified fraud examiners work as a discreet white-labelled supplier to some of the world’s largest organisations. Contact ABAC® for more on ISO Certification and training.[/accordion_son][/accordion_father][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Filed under: Anti-Bribery Anti-Corruption Solution, Industry Insights, Resources by admin
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Banking industry squad prevents £20m of fraud

Banking industry squad disrupted 23 Organized Criminal Groups (OCGs) preventing £20 million of fraud. The specialist police unit (DCPCU) is funded by the finance and banking industry in a dedicated effort to stop fraud.

Commonly known as the banking industry squad, the DCPCU (Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit) is a joint effort between the Metropolitan Police Service, the City of London Police as well as banking industry fraud investigators. Supported by UK Finance, DCPCU is on the frontline in the fight against fraud. And over the past year, the unit has worked in partnership with several social media platforms to take down over 1,600 accounts which featured posts relating to payment:

• 500 “money mules” accounts used to recruit young people
• 250 accounts involved in the trading stolen card details
• +400 “brokers” accounts 
• with the rest of the accounts used for “flipping”

In 2019 DCPCU seized £1.65 million of assets – over double the amount confiscated in the same period in 2018 – with a total of 75 fraudsters convicted to a total of 100 years in prison. DCPCU operational successes include:

• “Money mule” gang worth over £1.2 million and sentenced to nearly seven years in prison.
• Smising scam of worth £27 million disrupted and prevented with the combined prison sentence of over 14 years for two Londoner criminals who committed almost half a million pounds of fraud
• One individual from London found to have committed £50,000 of fraud and consequently sentenced to two years and nine months in prison
• A criminal committed over £31,000 of fraud in a Stolen card scheme

The DCPCU is very effective in disrupting criminals and a powerful example of how important is it that all sectors – i.e. banking industry – work with law enforcement to protect the public from fraud. 

Read more on what the Head of the DCPCU, Detective Chief Inspector Gary Robinson, UK Finance Managing Director of Economic Crime and National fraud coordinator, Commander Karen Baxter have to say. Read NOW!

About us…

Based in London, CRI® Group works with companies across the Americas, Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia-Pacific as a one-stop international Risk Management, Employee Background Screening, Business Intelligence, Due Diligence, Compliance Solutions and other professional Investigative Research solutions provider. We have the largest proprietary network of background screening analysts and investigators across the Middle East and Asia. Our global presence ensures that no matter how international your operations are, we have the network needed to provide you with all you need, wherever you happen to be. CRI® Group also holds BS102000:2013 and BS7858:2019 Certifications is an HRO certified provider and partner with Oracle.

In 2016, CRI® Group launched the Anti-Bribery Anti-Corruption (ABAC®) Center of Excellence – an independent certification body established for ISO 37001:2016 Anti-Bribery Management Systems, ISO 37301 Compliance Management Systems and ISO 31000:2018 Risk Management, providing training and certification. ABAC® operates through its global network of certified ethics and compliance professionals, qualified auditors and other certified professionals. As a result, CRI® Group’s global team of certified fraud examiners work as a discreet white-labelled supplier to some of the world’s largest organizations. Contact ABAC® for more on ISO Certification and training.

MEET THE CEO

Zafar I. Anjum is Group Chief Executive Officer of CRI® Group (www.crigroup.com), a global supplier of investigative, forensic accounting, business due to diligence and employee background screening services for some of the world’s leading business organisations. Headquartered in London (with a significant presence throughout the region) and licensed by the Dubai International Financial Centre-DIFC, the Qatar Financial Center – QFC, and the Abu Dhabi Global Market-ADGM, CRI® Group safeguard businesses by establishing the legal compliance, financial viability, and integrity levels of outside partners, suppliers and customers seeking to affiliate with your business. CRI® Group maintains offices in UAE, Pakistan, Qatar, Singapore, Malaysia, Brazil, China, the USA, and the United Kingdom.

Contact CRI® Group to learn more about its 3PRM-Certified™ third-party risk management strategy program and discover an effective and proactive approach to mitigating the risks associated with corruption, bribery, financial crimes and other dangerous risks posed by third-party partnerships.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Zafar Anjum, MSc, MS, CFE, CII, MICA, Int. Dip. (Fin. Crime) | CRI® Group Chief Executive Officer

37th Floor, 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5AA United Kingdom

t: +44 207 8681415 | m: +44 7588 454959 | e: zanjum@crigroup.com

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TPRM: When is it time to conduct third-party screening?

When to conduct third-party screening?

Why do organisations screen their employees but not the companies they work with? Failing to screen third-party screening to the same level as permanent staff will increase your risks on many levels – from brand reputation to loss of money.

The nature of business today is largely shaped by our connected world. Many organisations conduct business across international borders and/or overseas and as part of various strategic and beneficial partnerships. In fact, the technology revolution and other factors that have removed barriers from business make it more essential than ever to have suppliers, vendors and other supporting companies helping to establish supply chains in various locations. And while they can be a great benefit to an organisation, these partnerships also represent an inherent security risk.

Third-party screening in compliance perspective

Vendors, suppliers and other third-party partners are entities largely outside of your control. While your organisation might have a high level of internal controls and stringent standards for ethical conduct, the entities that you partner with might not share those controls or values. Therefore, if something goes wrong, their failings can affect your organisation in terms of financial loss, liability, and damage to reputation.

Europe’s horse-meat scandal in 2013 or Quest Diagnostics data breach in 2019 is strong examples. Major organisations like Tesco were caught up in financial and PR disaster when they found that some of their suppliers were using horse meat in products sold as 100 per cent beef. Consumers were outraged, and many of the larger companies caught up in the scandal admitted that they had not performed proper due diligence or closely monitored their suppliers and their standards. And in the case of Diagnostics, the exposed records of 11.9 million patients.

When is the right time to conduct due diligence?

While third-party risk management should be an ongoing process, there are certain times when it is absolutely crucial for any organisation. At CRI® Group, we counsel our clients always to use third-party screening when doing any of the following:

• Performing pre-merger and acquisition research
• Conducting pre-IPO due diligence
• Engaging new clients
• Employing, contracting or retaining foreign business partners
• Implementing a consistent and audit-worthy AML and anti-corruption compliance program

Dodging trouble

Conducting 3PRM due diligence investigations at the right time has helped our clients avoid some major pitfalls, including the following:

• Merging with an international business embroiled in several behind-the-scenes legal battles
• Getting caught up in making procurement decisions involving the inappropriate influence of government officials who were slated to receive kickbacks
• Partnering with organisations that were potential credit risks, have claimed bankruptcy, have dissolved stated companies or were faced with debtor filings.
• Awarding work to an overseas contractor with absolutely no prior experience
• Affiliating with a contracting company owned by a politician with significant influence on future awards

With a network of trained professionals positioned across five continents, CRI® Group’s third-party risk management (3PRM™) services will provide your business with a comprehensive approach toward managing all third-party management risks. Contact us today and learn more about how we can help you address all of your third-party screening and due diligence needs – get a FREE QUOTE now!

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About CRI® Group

Based in London, CRI® Group works with companies across the Americas, Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia-Pacific as a one-stop international Risk Management, Employee Background Screening, Business Intelligence, Due Diligence, Compliance Solutions and other professional Investigative Research solutions provider.

We have the largest proprietary network of background screening analysts and investigators across the Middle East and Asia. Our global presence ensures that no matter how international your operations are, we have the network needed to provide you with all you need, wherever you happen to be. CRI® Group also holds BS 102000:2013 and BS 7858:2012 Certifications is an HRO certified provider and partner with Oracle.

In 2016, CRI® Group launched the Anti-Bribery Anti-Corruption (ABAC®) Center of Excellence – an independent certification body established for ISO 37001 Anti-Bribery Management Systems, ISO 37301 Compliance Management Systems and ISO 31000:2018 Risk Management, providing training and certification.

ABAC® operates through its global network of certified ethics and compliance professionals, qualified auditors and other certified professionals. As a result, CRI® Group’s global team of certified fraud examiners work as a discreet white-labelled supplier to some of the world’s largest organisations. Contact ABAC® for more on ISO Certification and training.

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Effective leadership during COVID-19: a guide for leaders

Strong and effective leadership during a crisis is key

COVID-19 and its rapid global spread have quickly eclipsed in size and scope. In addition to the human toll and the economic damage, coronavirus has significantly changed the business landscape beyond recognition. In the face of COVID-19 specific challenges and still-uncertain risks, business leaders are rightly concerned about how their organisation will continue to be affected. And what can they do next? However, there are several lessons from history, a pooled of fundamental qualities of effective leadership and leading practical practices that chief executives should consider.

COVID-19 impact on companies varies by geography and sector companies in different ways. Their reaction capabilities have put businesses at different phases of dealing with the outbreak and, therefore, the impacts. However, regardless of the extent of COVID-19 effect on an organisation, we believe that five fundamental qualities of effective leadership distinguish successful CEOs from the rest:

Five fundamental qualities of effective leadership

 As a leader trying to guide your organisation through the COVID-19 crisis, it is essential to take specific steps that can help soften up the crisis’s impact—and enable your organisation to emerge stronger.

1. Build Positive/Trusting Relationships with a rationale
2. Clarify the direction and stick to it
3. Aim for decisive actions with courage
4. The Power of a Clear Leadership Narrative
5. Champion long-view Change

Take specific tactical steps to elevate your business

Any business during a crisis such as COVID-19 goes through three phases: mitigation, or lessening the force or intensity of the crisis and how the company deals with the present situation and manages continuity; preparedness, during which a company learns with a concrete research-based set of actions that are taken as preventive measures for a post-COVID-19 and emerges stronger; and future-proofing, where the company prepares for and shapes the “next to normal.” CEOs have substantial and added responsibility to nimbly consider all three-time frames concurrently and allocate resources accordingly.

Within these broad imperatives, effective leaders can take specific tactical steps to elevate these qualities during the current crisis, blunting its impact and helping their organisations emerge stronger. This crisis can become an opportunity to move forward and create even more value and positive societal impact, rather than just bounce back to the status quo with the right approach.

The secret of effective leadership: Foresee the unforeseen

The outbreak of COVID-19 was an unpredictable crisis with extreme consequences, and its westward March across the planet have introduced a new kind of unforeseen risk:

• Since World War II, all the recessions have been caused by either economic policy mistakes, oil shocks, or financial bubbles – and the CIVID-19 is a new category on its own: a global societal collapse.
• The mass quarantining across the globe cut off consumption, stopped travel, hospitality, restaurant, and retail sectors. In China, for example, the mass shutdowns of factories evaporated the supply of products such as apparel, auto parts and electronic components and apparel.

Dial up your empathetic self

Emotional intelligence is critical in a crisis – a good and effective leader recognises the impact uncertainty has on the people who drive the business. Resilient leaders express empathy for the upheaval’s human side, acknowledging their employees’ priorities shift towards their family health and safety. A resilient leader prioritises workers and protects their economic well-being. Effective leaders also encourage their people to adopt a calm and systematic approach to whatever happens next –

At the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak, Deloitte conducted a human capital policies and practices survey in China. And the survey revealed the following steps companies and not-for-profit organisations were considering in response:

• More than half of government and public service entities focused on addressing employees’ psychological stress.
• 90% said it was an urgent requirement to provide their employees with remote and flexible work options.
• Companies in industries facing the most significant constraints on providing flexible and remote working options—such as energy, resources, and industrials—focused on providing physical protection (i.e. cleaner and safer work environments and PPE.

Cater to your audience

Because of COVID-19, customer experience takes on a new meaning – as customer’s needs dramatically shift from what you perceived before. Your customers are reverting down Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to essential concerns due to COVID-19. A recent McKinsey survey of U.S. consumers found that 64% of respondents have felt depressed, anxious, or both, and 39% stated that they would be unable to pay their bills after one month of unemployment.

Are you adapting your communications and customer experience to fulfil their new needs? Show empathy towards your customers, too —they are struggling through the crisis, and simple things can differentiate you from other businesses. Leading organisations are reorienting their customer experience such as:

• UberEats asks customers if they want food left at the door rather than passed by hand.
• Airlines are waiving cancellation fees and have emailed customers to describe their enhanced plane decontamination efforts.
• Energy companies are not shutting off power for nonpayment, and in some cases, they are even reconnecting customers whose service had been turned off before the crisis.
• Restaurants have encouraged their staff to visibly use hand sanitisers.
• Burger King provides two free kids meals to Americans who make any purchase through the Burger King app.

Yet, for the sake of those same employees and customers—as well as creditors and investors— leaders must stay vigilantly focused on protecting financial performance during and through the crisis – and making hard, fact-based decisions. The adage “cash is king” is most real amidst an existential event.

The following critical steps can help you protect your business performance:

1. Centralise decision-making: uncertainty paralyses decision-makers. Allocate or create a crisis team that is capable of consistency, speed, and especially decisiveness when making decisions
2. Articulating different economic scenarios (and fast) across all markets, generally scaling scenarios from mild to moderate to severe.
3. Project the financial impact of the scenarios on profitability and especially liquidity. This includes assessing the probability of violating debt covenants and terms and determining when available cash sources should be drawn.
4. Defining the non-negotiables: Which products, services, customer segments, business lines, employee segments, and so on are the most critical to ongoing and future cash flow and should be preserved, although even those non-negotiables may be impacted if scenarios tend to the more severe.
5. Identifying the levers leadership has available (within the boundaries of the non-negotiables) to impact financial performance, such as discretionary expense reduction, hiring freezes, or temporary plant closures.
6. Determining what actions to take and agreeing on the hierarchy of levers to be pulled as the severity of scenarios unfolds.

Developing a downturn planning playbook is important to have a head start in crises. A crisis playbook should include all scenarios, projections and non-negotiables so that it is easier to be adjusted for present circumstances. However, it is important to remind that a resilient leader knows a company’s purpose should remain unchangeable. Articulate a purpose beyond profit; in a recent survey by Forbes, 79% of business leaders believe that an organisation’s purpose is central to business success, yet 68% said they do not use it in leadership decision-making processes in their organisation.

COVID-19 has left under increased pressure, and stakeholders are paying close attention to every move. Therefore it is important to make decisions that tie back to the organisation’s purpose. Purpose-driven organisations tend to do better during challenging environments because:

1.  Purpose cultivates engaged employees: Employees perform better when they feel that their work has meaning. Research shows that employees who feel that their work has meaning and has a greater sense of connection perform better during volatile times and are there to help companies recover and grow when stability returns. Companies need to centre their business on an authentic purpose.
2.  Purpose attracts loyal customers and helps grow sales: Being a purpose-driven brand is 100% beneficial for your bottom line, no doubt about it. 8 in 10 consumers say they are more loyal to purpose-driven brands – a purpose-driven brand helps sustain customer relationships even during a crisis. When a business puts the purpose first, profits generally follow; however, the results can be more elusive when profits are first.
3.  Purpose helps companies transform: When companies face hard decisions, they tend to have a sharper sense of how they should evolve when guided by their purpose. Purpose makes for a cohesive transformation.
4. Purpose always put the mission first Organisations in the middle of a crisis face a flurry of urgent issues across innumerable fronts. Resilient leaders zero in on the most pressing of these, establishing priority areas that can quickly cascade.

Six top emergency management leading practices:

1.  Centralise command– launch and sustain a crisis command centre: Leading companies established emergency response teams to assess the risks and formulate response strategies after conducting robust scenario planning, which significantly improved the epidemic response mechanism and toolkits.
2. Support talent and strategy – retain & support talent, and they will enhance strategy: After the COVID-19 outbreak, many companies began implementing flexible work and working from home arrangements. Resilient leaders saw this as an opportunity for improvement, and many companies have identified and addressed new ways of work and communication within the organisation. Furthermore, leaders quickly understood the side effect of WFH and implemented a digital employee health declaration system to track their well-being.
3. Maintain and plan your financing and ensure business continuity: Update and develop business continuity plans to understand contractual obligations, evaluate financial impacts and liquidity requirements, formulate debt restructuring plans, and optimise assets to help restore economic viability. Another core focus was understanding the economic effects across the entire value chain.
4.  Support and trust your Supply chain: invest in digital trading solutions to combat supply chain interruptions, overcome logistics and labour shortages, and get better visibility into local access limitations to ensure product supply for the domestic market. Operational agility and data quality were critical in supply chain scenario planning.
5. Stay engaged with your customers:  maintain an open and ongoing line of communication with your customers, including informing them of any emergency actions taken. This approach of working in partnership has built confidence amid the uncertainty.
6.  Invest in Digital capabilities and develop digital roads – Strengthen digital capabilities: Revisiting your current marketing and e-commerce landscape for the short, medium, and long term is crucial for your business to succeed during a crisis. The current situation has made companies realise that to increase resilience, they need to implement digital capabilities across the entire organisation, promoting “no-touch” experiences and stepping away from brick-and-mortar presence.

Apple’s bold decision-making of closing 11 retail stores in COVID-19 affected areas in the U.S. demonstrates the courage inherent in Aim for speed over elegance. Apple also demonstrated several other principles:

• Empathising with the needs and concerns of its employees, including continuing to pay hourly workers as though operations followed a regular schedule and amending its leave policy for COVID-related health issues
• Reducing further shocks to an already depleted supply chain
• Staying connected to—and overtly demonstrating concern for—its customers and local communities
• Leveraging its at-scale digital presence by keeping its online store open and running
• Continuing to engage its business ecosystem via new channels, shifting the annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June to a digital-only gathering
• #7 – Engage with your business ecosystem

Speed is key

Covid-19 has tested companies and their reaction time. The reality is that most companies do not have the infrastructure to deliver accurate information or data in real-time, which has tested their operations. And COVID-19 will continue to test companies- are you ready to accept that you’ll need to act with imperfect information? Collect as much proxy data as you can to inform your decisions, so you’re not flying blind. When the crisis is over, you will have the opportunity to conduct a thorough review to see how to improve information quality in future crises—but during this one, you will likely have to set aside that kind of analysis.

Perfect is the enemy of the good, especially during crises when prompt action is required. An effective leader understands that teams and individuals deeply embedded in a specific context are likely to be in the best position to develop creative approaches during a crisis. COVID-19 is forcing leaders into situations that were never anticipated – however, this is a great opportunity to encourage more initiative and decision rights at all levels of the organisation.

Tip: Make the objective clear, but allow more flexible local autonomy.

Case study: one coffee shop chain gave each store leadership the flexibility to reconfigure tables to maintain social distancing. This approach may have value beyond the current crisis as organisations learn to conduct business in more and more uncertain times.

Medium is the message.

Marshall McLuhan’s famous statement “the medium is the message” in the midst of a crisis is even more relevant during the COVID-19 crisis.

Many psychologists assert that most communication today lacks eye contact, voice intonation, and body language essential to building a trust-based relationship.

Tip: Body language is essential in building a trust-based relationship with your team. Instead of emails, encourage video to connect emotionally with your teams – and avoid the overwhelming feeling a busy inbox leaves.

Communication is key; as a leader, your team and stakeholders depend on your regular guidance. There is a fine balance between communicating in advance of all the facts and being late to comment. We have seen leading companies adopt a policy of shorter, more frequent communications based on what they do know and filling in details later. Incomplete or conflicting communication will slow your business’ response; your teams and stakeholders may start filling the void with misinformation and assumptions.

In a time of crisis, trust is paramount. This simple formula emphasises the key elements of trust for individuals and organisations:

Trust = Transparency + Relationship + Experience

Trust starts with transparency: telling what you know and admitting what you don’t. Trust is also a function of relationships: some level of “knowing” each other and your employees, customers, and ecosystem. And lastly, it also depends on experience: Do you reliably do what you say? In times of growing uncertainty, trust is increasingly built by demonstrating an ability to address unanticipated situations and a steady commitment to address the needs of all stakeholders in the best way possible.

This is not just about charts and numbers. It’s also important to recognise and address the emotions of all stakeholders. Narratives can be powerful ways to acknowledge the fears that naturally surface in times of crisis while at the same time framing the opportunity that can be achieved if stakeholders come together and commit to overcoming the challenges that stand in the way.

This is not just about charts and numbers. Narratives can be powerful ways to acknowledge the fears that naturally surface in times of crisis while at the same time framing the opportunity that can be achieved if stakeholders come together and commit to overcoming the challenges that stand in the way.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint

Any period of volatility can create opportunities that businesses can leverage if they are prepared. In the case of the COVID-19 outbreak, organisations that take a more assertive and longer-term approach can spark innovations that will define the next “normal.”

Harvard Business Review has assessed the corporate performance of over 4.7000 companies during the past three recessions and found that those that cut costs fastest and deepest had the lowest probability of outperforming competitors after the economy recovered. In other words, to emerge from a recession, your businesses need to strike the right balance between short- and long-term strategies by investing comprehensively in the future while selectively reducing costs to survive the recession. During the COVID-19 ……. particularly susceptible to a short-term mindset.

Plan structural changes and any lasting effects

COVID-19 is likely to accelerate fundamental and structural changes that were inevitable in any case—but are now expected to occur far faster than they would otherwise. Consider that the “digitalisation” of work—undertaken from home or elsewhere, with remote collaboration and reduced travel for physical colocation—has been evolving steadily. Today, all around the world, businesses—and their talent—are learning to communicate, collaborate, and coordinate on virtual platforms and understand the increased efficacy and efficiency such work modalities can provide. Virtual work and collaboration tools will likely create a booming new market space.

The necessity of operating differently allows businesses to understand what they can do. These structural changes will require you to alter your business strategy and planning. So ask yourself:

• How can I shift my staffing model to allow more telecommuting or remote work? And how will that shift affect our real estate portfolio?
• Can we achieve cost savings by shrinking our organisation’s physical footprint?
• What upgrades are required for video conferencing and network availability?
• Will I need more robust cybersecurity protocols?
• If I adopt a decentralised work model, what new liabilities or challenges will I have to face?
• What changes do I need to make to management, employee training and communication policies to run a more distributed workforce?

COVID-19 is forcing businesses to operate differently from what they know best. However, this can allow businesses to understand what they can do.

Tip: Test your team while they are WFH. Testing can determine if your company can meet any future requirements if the current conditions persist – then, with the appropriate data, you can consider whether you should continue doing so.

Only Market Shapers can thrive.

Shaping your current strategies can create a source of new value that can ultimately help you emerge from unanticipated crises. Those who shape their industry’s future rather than adapt to it will emerge stronger than the rest. Organisations emerging from this crisis and shifting into the “future-proofing“ stage will need to reinvent themselves, from identifying and solving new opportunities to aligning themselves with the future-shapers of their industry or even becoming the nexus of the next ecosystem. At the same time, their competitors focus on the crisis.

COVID-19 impacts have created considerable investments in new manufacturing technologies that allow businesses to shorten the time between production to consumption—creating entirely new markets to be shaped.

Predict new business models and implement them

Newly shaped markets prompt new business models – COVID-19 has tested business infrastructures, and some have crumbled. How will emerging trends, structural changes, and new markets redefine how your company and industry will be organised tomorrow?

For example, many have long realised that education was ripe for significant changes enabled by digital technologies. According to the United Nations, with over 290 million students out of school globally due to COVID-19, the demand for online offerings, curricula, and platforms will likely accelerate. Yet, some universities and faculty are just beginning to improvise remote offerings. Designing around the massive COVID-19 constraint demonstrates the real promise of potentially revolutionary changes in how we structure, locate, and operate our approaches to learning—which are likely to lead to dynamic new market-making opportunities in this area.

How will emerging trends, structural changes, and new markets redefine how your company and industry will be organised tomorrow?

As another example, consider the growth in the adoption of A.I. and robotics. 

Already playing a pivotal role in detecting and treating COVID-19, AI-equipped tools scan social media to analyse virus progression in real-time, recognising viral pneumonia in chest CT scans 45 times faster than humans with 96% accuracy, and conducting molecular synthesis and validation in days rather than months or years.

There is a real sense of urgency to stop COVID-19 from further damage. With private and public sectors partnering and investing in answers, the future health care models will change as over half is slashing the typical decade-long pharmaceutical R&D cycle, and the regulatory framework is skipped.

COVID-19 will continue to test resilient and effective leadership

COVID-19 will redefine any resilient leadership. Leaders will need to lead their organisations between having to make decisions without perfect information, often with only a few hours or days to spare. More than ever, the myriad of decisions and challenges will significantly implicate the organisation’s whole system, from employees to customers, from clients to financial partners, from suppliers to investors, and other stakeholders—as well as society.

Clarity of thinking, communications, and decision-making will be at a premium. Those CEOs who can make the best exhibit this clarity—and lead from the heart and the head—will inspire their organisations to persevere through this crisis, positioning their brand to emerge in a better place, prepared for whatever may come. Crises like these, with deep challenges to be navigated, will also lead to opportunities for learning and deepening trust with all stakeholders while equipping organisations for a step change that creates more value not just for shareholders but also for society.

Action guide for effective leadership

Launch and sustain a crisis command centre

Most organisations in the affected regions have launched some form of the crisis response unit, either as a result of a preestablished crisis response plan or on an ad hoc basis, to gain an enterprisewide understanding of the impact and coordinate their efforts across functions. Subteams have been created to manage specific workstreams such as communications, legal, finance, and operations. They operate with a clear mandate provided by executive management and have been empowered to make swift decisions in the following areas.

Such a command centre doesn’t have to be entirely defensive: It can also help break traditional orthodoxies. Airlines that are cancelling flights, for example, are making the downtime more productive by prioritising scheduled maintenance for grounded aircraft—and reallocating larger planes to space-constrained routes—enabling them to make more efficient use of resources.

Such a command centre doesn’t have to be entirely defensive: It can also help break traditional orthodoxies.

Support talent and enhance strategy: work, workforce, and  workplace

It is key to support your talent while they support your strategy. To do so:

1. Evaluate the actual work of your company and how it might be changed. Work has to be onsite and evaluate what safeguards can be implemented, such as revised cleaning protocols or personal protective equipment. Resilient leaders rapidly assess what work is mission-critical and what can be deferred or deprioritised and then help teams understand where their focus needs to be (including what work is not strategically critical). Allow your people to focus on the most vital tasks and empower teams to be creative in delivering nonessential work in ways that minimise unnecessary risk or exposure to your employees and your customers.
2. Focus on the workforce: because the most effective plans encompass employees (as well as contractors, vendors, partners, and unions) who need to be included to keep the entire workforce safe. Address the immediate COVID-19-related human needs for information, including education on COVID-19 symptoms and prevention and access to employee assistance resources. As the work itself contracts and/or expands, ensure that you have operational plans for site disruption and reactivation, including communicating to affected employees. While assessing possible changes to leave policies (such as for employees caring for affected family members), also prepare for potentially higher absenteeism, lower productivity, and even work refusal until the situation ultimately normalises post-crisis.
3. Understand that the workplace and its culture are critical: because of COVID-19, companies need to ensure the safety of working environments and prepare workplaces for containment and contamination. Suppose an employee is suspected of being infected with COVID-19. In that case, a clear process must be in place for adhering to local health care requirements for isolating and/or treating the employee at the facility.

As COVID-19 continues to change any workplace culture, as an effective leader, how you deploy your workforce, distribute work and engage your people will change. Explore this new narrative to think about how you can elevate communications and create a more effective and healthy workforce.

Plan business continuity and financing

In almost every financial crisis, preserving cash and liquidity is a top priority. Even the most financially stable can struggle when challenges impact all industries simultaneously. In the 2008–2009 recession, Companies with strong balance sheets were among the many that still experienced liquidity constraints when commercial paper markets were suddenly interrupted. In some cases, this compromised their ability to meet basic short-term obligations.

The COVID-19 crisis will be no exception – there is a long period a large number of companies now face weeks, if not months, of disrupted markets. For many industries—such as travel and hospitality—the revenue lost during this period may be permanent rather than made up later. That’s putting sudden, unanticipated pressure on working capital lines and liquidity.

Some companies may maintain adequate flexibility by making drawdowns on their revolving credit facilities. Others find that they need to approach their banks to arrange temporarily larger facilities and/or covenant resets/waivers. However, such efforts could prove unsuccessful since banks may have reached their risk tolerance limits for a single credit. Revolving credit facilities may be frozen due to covenant limits and/or cross-defaults. Security packages hastily assembled to support new funding may be insufficient due to limited collateral availability or prolonged economic distress. Or companies may be looking for a highly customised, rolling short-term facility on terms that do not naturally fit into a bank’s standard product suite.

Beyond immediate cash needs, the finance function also must respond to potential accounting and financial reporting implications—if they can even get their books closed and/or audits completed in affected areas. For instance, some corporations implementing first-ever (and quite appropriate) remote work arrangements may face unexpected tax challenges when paying employees in a different local tax jurisdiction than their main office.

Supply chain due to diligence

As the “world’s factory,” any significant disruption in China puts global supply chains at risk. The COVID-19 crisis, originating from the highly industrialised province of Wuhan, highlights the potential perils of this dependency: More than 90 per cent of Fortune 1000 companies had Tier 1 and/or Tier 2 suppliers in most-affected China provinces.

A decades-long focus on supply chain optimisation to minimise costs, reduce inventories, and drive up asset utilisation has improved many companies’ supply chain efficiency. But COVID-19 illustrates that many companies are not fully aware of the vulnerability of their supply chain relationships to global shocks when optimising for efficiency over resilience. Further, COVID-19 demonstrates that a global outbreak can have many longer-lasting impacts than a local epidemic on a supply chain, which endures foreshocks and aftershocks as hot spots evolve worldwide.

Without a comprehensive plan or playbook—and most organisations lack one for addressing a global outbreak—companies can over adjust, causing greater disruption and unnecessary expenses. For example, some companies have responded to the COVID-19 crisis by imposing across-the-board inventory increases out of fear of running short of necessary supplies. For example, a bulge in retail apparel inventory concurrent with a rapid drop in consumer spending can exacerbate cash needs. Such decisions need to thoughtfully consider the unintended consequences and shocks.

See the sidebar “Strengthening the supply chain” for important actions to consider to strengthen your global supply chain.

Strengthening your supply chain

Supply-side: For companies that produce, distribute, or source from suppliers in affected areas, steps may include:

• Enhance focus on workforce/labour planning
• Focus on Tier 1 supplier risk
• Illuminate the extended supply network
• Understand and activate alternate sources of supply
• Update inventory policy and planning parameters
• Enhance inbound materials visibility
• Prepare for plant closures
• Focus on production scheduling agility
• Evaluate alternative outbound logistics options and secure capacity
• Conduct global scenario planning

Demand-side: For companies that sell products or commodities to affected areas, steps may include:

• Understand the demand impact specific to your business
• Confirm short-term demand-supply synchronisation strategy
• Prepare for potential channel shifts
• Evaluate alternative inbound logistics options
• Enhance the ability to allocate to customers based on priority
• Open channels of communication with key customers
• Prepare for the rebound
• Conduct global scenario planning

Inside: For companies that operate or have business relationships in affected areas, steps may include:

• Educate employees on COVID-19 symptoms and prevention
• Reinforce screening protocols
• Prepare for increased absenteeism
• .Restrict nonessential travel and promote flexible working arrangements
• Align I.T. systems and support to evolving work requirements
• Prepare succession plans for key executive positions
• Focus on cash flow

Stay engaged with your customers.

You must maintain a relationship with your audience, and it is time for your company’s brand to lead. During crises, customer needs shift dramatically – from the rational to the emotional – it is your job as a leader to intercept that shift.

A study of consumer behaviour found that a business’s traditional customer segments are at risk during a downturn. Their purchasing behaviour is driven more by their emotional response to the economic volatility than by the characteristics businesses typically consider when defining their customer segments.

Particularly important is to consider how your own sales efforts will appear. Suppose you’re going to offer price cuts or marketing promotions. In that case, some might see that as an attempt to capitalise on a crisis—or worse, undermine public health efforts to encourage people to stay out of stores and other public places. Look at other benefits you can offer customers that help sustain the customer relationship. For example, some hospitality companies are deferring the expiration of loyalty points.

Digital Transformation inside and outside

With the COVID-19 lockdowns happening more often than not and the recommended “social distancing” becoming permanent, organisations had to change. Resilient companies expanded their operations into the virtual and digital sphere.

Decisions like asking their workforce to WFH pushed companies into a digital transformation. 70% of companies had a digital transformation or were working on one. However, COVID-19 tested organisations and their digital capabilities. As a resilient leader, if you are prepared to make remote work a reality, you must ensure that the organisation can support it. Also, consider the impact of WFH on your team, who are likely to feel socially isolated. Dispersing your workforce remotely comes with the potential loss of innovation as the isolation will limit in-person interaction.

The increase in online activity will have big implications on your system stability, network robustness, and data security, especially if you do business in parts of the world where telecom and systems infrastructure is lacking. The key here is to ensure your team has a system in place, ensuring smooth operation as the workplace and workforce evolve. There is also the cyber risk your organisation faces with such arrangements. Since the lockdowns, phishing scams and other cyber attacks have been rising; the fraud rate has risen by 33%. Implementing the proper cybersecurity protocols will safeguard your networks, data and team. Our article on how the COVID-19 increased identity theft cases: 7 steps to lessen your risk can help you understand all of the steps you can take to protect your business.

Maintaining customer connections virtually amid shifting behaviours also has challenges. As COVID-19 fears rose in the United States in early March, online sales increased 75% year over year, and the number of online shoppers increased too. While retailers may want to move more sales online to offset declining store traffic, they should ensure that their team has tested a scaled capability before making such a shift. Providing substandard service could damage your brand long-term than the lost sales in the short term.

Embrace your business ecosystem and future-proof your company

With new business models emerging from the crisis COVID-19 is creating, you have an opportunity to become the nexus of a brand new future-proof ecosystem. This new global and digital ecosystem will add layers of complexity and potential vulnerabilities to your business—but it can also offer opportunities that can future-proof your company. As an effective leader, consider the following questions:

• How can we use the ecosystem to improve the resilience of our organisation during COVID-19?
• How am I extending my stakeholder communication to embrace ecosystem partners that have become critical business model components?
• What additional data might my partners have to improve my operations?
• What level of communication is appropriate for the investor community—the more traditional “ecosystem”.
• As new business models emerge from the crisis, can I become the nexus of a new, emerging ecosystem built for the new “normal”?

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Middle East Background Screening: Compliance With Privacy Laws

It’s a fact that some of the most talented and promising job candidates possess the most disturbing pasts. Such deception can lead to a perilous future for an employer. This is the primary reason businesses are strongly advised to conduct background screening investigations before hiring seemingly well-qualified managerial candidates. background screening Privacy Laws Compliance

In every region and jurisdiction in the world, there are different regulations that govern what background screeners can and can’t do in regards to providing pre- and post-employment screening services. The laws in the United States, for example, are not the same as those that affect investigations in the Middle East. The concern over individual privacy and data protection are hot discussion items globally. Companies that engage background screening firms for the Middle East need to make sure those investigators are following all rules and regulations in regards to privacy – or else they might face liability along with the screening provider.

Examples of Privacy Laws in the Middle East

While reputable screening firms in the U.S. comply closely with the Fair Credit Reporting Act to conduct domestic background investigations, foreign investigations are much more complex.

Middle East countries have no prohibitive legislation that governs the employment screening process. At the same time, there is no cooperative legislation and regulation to support background screening services for employee due diligence. However, background screening industry professionals must adhere to strict data protection requirements (such as the GDPR, local Data Protection regimes specifically DIFC Data Protection, ADGM Data Protection and QFC Data Protection regulations) to process consensually based personal information.

In UAE, local police departments provide “Good Conduct Certificates” for employees for immigration purposes, while Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Data Protection standards allow for the processing of sensitive personal information, such as criminal history, with signed consent from the data subject for employee due diligence requirements.

In the United Arab Emirates, data protection laws permit investigators to process sensitive personal information such as criminal history data. As a DIFC-licensed entity, the Corporate Research and Investigations Limited “CRI Group” (as well as other reputable background screening firms) must maintain strict adherence to the region’s Data Protection Law in order to fulfil our ongoing DIFC licensed status. As in the United States, the procurement of personal data in this region – and any subsequent transfer of data outside of the DIFC – may only be attained with the written consent of the individual being investigated.

Reputable screening firms in the Middle East will also comply with regional privacy laws (such as the GDPR) by appointing an internal Data Protection Officer (DPO) whose primary responsibility is to conduct independent audits of the firm’s various information processing operations which handle customer and employee data.  The DPO ensures that personal data is handled in accordance with all relevant data protection provisions covering online and offline data procurement while complying with local and regional regulations pertaining to individual privacy standards.

The Urgent Need for Background Checks

While all guidelines and regulations must be followed, the absolute need for comprehensive background screening in the Middle East cannot be disputed. The region has a labor force of over 150 million individuals serving in all capacities and industries (World Bank, 2019). Those statistics can be quickly put into context when considering that deception in the employment process, such as résumé fraud, is believed to be rampant and widespread: One report estimates that 80 percent of all job applicants intentionally mislead potential employers on their résumé or application (Security, 2017).

Case Study

To help understand the problem, consider this case study: An international company was hiring to fill a position in the Middle East. When they engaged a firm that specialises in pre- and post-employment background screening, the firm’s investigators uncovered disturbing details about an applicant. One of the individual’s previous employers reported that the applicant was hired without any prior experience, was trained for a couple of months, and then terminated due to committing cash embezzlement as well as participating in harassment and workplace violence. A second employment verification revealed his termination, as he caused a financial loss to the company.

In the above example, the background checking company uncovered the deception through comprehensive background screening that went beyond basic database checks and reviews of public records. In the Middle East, background investigations – both for pre- and post-employment screening – often require a “boots on the ground” approach. This can mean conducting much of an investigation literally on foot, travelling to remote regions to interview sources and check documents in person. And, the entire investigation was conducted within all privacy laws and regulations.

Some job candidates will seek an advantage through fraudulent means. The hidden truth might even include criminal behavior. It is important for any organisation to verify information provided by individuals they seek to hire. In the Middle East, this process will often look different than it would in the U.S. By following all local laws and regulations, however, a reputable background check firm will be helping to protect your company – while also safeguarding your future.

Let’s Talk!

If you have any further questions or interest in implementing compliance solutions, please contact us.

About the Author

Zafar Anjum | Group Chief Executive, CRI Group

Anjum is founder and CEO of CRI Group and ABAC Center of Excellence. Having dedicated three decades to the areas of fraud prevention, protective integrity, security, compliance, anti-bribery and anti-corruption, Zafar Anjum is a highly respected professional in his field.

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Create a zero-tolerance approach to fraud with ISO 37001 ABMS

Zero tolerance to fraud, how ISO 37001 ABMS can help?

Smart business leaders know that “Tone at the Top” is a critical factor in an organisation’s culture. The behaviour and attitudes exhibited by those at the top of the chainset an example for the rest of the staff to follow. This couldn’t be more true when it comes to ethical standards. If a company is lax and tolerant toward unethical behaviour, it creates a confusing message for employees and actually encourages damaging habits.

When a company creates a zero-tolerance environment for fraud and corruption, the opposite is true: employees understand that ethical behaviour is the norm. Anything outside of those bounds will be punished – perhaps with the loss of their job or even prosecution.

Creating a zero-tolerance approach to fraud doesn’t happen overnight. When your organisation enrols in ISO 37001 ABMS training and certification, the program involves your entire team.

The training helps establish an ethical culture by educating your employees on the following:

• What constitutes fraud, corruption, and bribery, and why these are so damaging to business
• How to identify red flags of fraud, corruption and bribery
• The process for reporting fraudulent and unethical acts
• The organisation’s zero-tolerance attitude toward unethical behaviour and willingness to terminate employees for breaches and prosecute unethical acts
• The serious ramifications for committing fraud or bribery, the legal consequences, and the negative impact on one’s career

Employees shouldn’t be expected to follow a code of conduct that they aren’t aware exists. That’s why ISO 37001 ABMS creates a communication plan through which organisation leaders regularly communicate their ethical behaviour expectations to staff.

The anti-fraud and anti-corruption controls established by ISO 37001 ABMS also apply to personnel at all levels of the organisation. When employees see that higher-level executives are subject to the same ethical standards as the individual at the lowest level of the flow chart, they understand that the organisation is serious about its commitment to having an ethical workplace free of fraud, corruption and bribery. That’s Tone at the Top.

Filed under: All Industries, Anti-Bribery Anti-Corruption Solution, Global, Industry Insights, ISO 37001, Resources by admin
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Beating bribery leadership and culture, in risk and anti-bribery management systems

Beating bribery leadership and culture

Beating bribery leadership and culture. Global corruption costs trillions in bribes. Samsung Group’s third-generation leader, Lee Jae-Yong, has been accused of bribing Choi Soon-Sil, a friend of former President Park Geun-Hye. Following Lee Kun-hee’s (Lee Jae-Yong’s father) heart attack in 2014, it has been calculated that Lee Jae-Yong would need to pay $6 billion in tax bills to be able to inherit his father’s shares and maintain control of Samsung. The Beating Bribery Leadership and culture in risk and anti-bribery management systems company’s leaders have a long-standing history of alleged tax evasion but, up to now, the white-collar crimes have been pardoned by Park Geun-Hye and other South Korean presidents. The easier option was for Lee Jae-Yong to pay a bribe to orchestrate the merger of two divisions: Samsung C&T Corp., which is dedicated to construction and trading and Cheil Industries Inc., which owned several entertainment properties. Upon completion, the merger would have given the Lee family more power over the entire Samsung Group.

Now that the plan was looking very promising, Jay Y. Lee used a bribe to execute it. According to Bloomberg in 2017: “The form of the alleged bribe was Vitana V, an $800,000 thoroughbred show horse, plus $17million in donations to foundations affiliated with the friend, whose daughter was hoping to qualify for the 2020 Olympics as an equestrienne.” (Bloomberg, 2017). Following the investigation, the situation took a significant downturn and Jay Y. Lee was sentenced to five years in prison. Chung Sun-sup, chief executive of research firm Chaebul.com said: “The five-year sentence was low given that he was found guilty of all the charges. I think the court gave him a lighter sentence, taking into account Samsung’s importance to the economy.” It is, however, one of the longest given to South Korean business leaders.

As for stock prices, they fell more than one per cent the day after Jay Y. Lee was arrested and then a similar amount after the verdict. Samsung Group’s profit was not hurt but South Korea’s new liberal president, Moon Jae-in, has pledged to rein in powerful, family-owned firms, like Samsung, which are known as chaebols in South Korea. He has promised to empower minority shareholders and end the practice of pardoning tycoons convicted of a white-collar crime. Another example of a company where corruption could be said to be part of company culture is (or was – more on that later) Rolls-Royce plc. Between 2000 and 2013, the company conspired to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by paying more than $35million in bribes through a third party to foreign officials to secure contracts. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) reported that in Thailand, Rolls-Royce admitted to using intermediaries to pay approximately $11 million in bribes to officials at Thai state-owned and state-controlled oil and gas companies that awarded seven contracts to Rolls-Royce during the same period. The way business was conducted in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Angola and Iraq did not differ. The corrupt practices were spread globally.

In 2003, before the criminal activities came to light, the company’s chief executive, John Rose, who had been appointed in 1996, was honoured with a knighthood. After the engineering giant admitted in a deal with the US prosecutor that it had made corrupt payments, the UK’s Labour party called for him to be stripped of his title. Sir John Rose insists that he did not know of the corrupt practices. Let’s say that is the truth, but did he not fail as a leader simply because of that?

As a result of the scandal in 2016, Rolls-Royce has suffered the biggest financial loss in its history. Other factors include Brexit and the drop in the value of the pound, but the £671 million charges for the penalties the company paid to settle bribery and corruption charges with Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the DOJ and Brazilian authorities left a hole in the company’s accounts. Since then, the authorities have appointed new management and if its praised cooperation with SFO is an indication of the company’s culture shift, Rolls-Royce should no longer be in the news due to corruption scandals.

ISO standards

Failed leadership is the obvious reason for the above bribery cases. ISO 37001: 2016 Clause 5 Leadership outlines what is required from top management in order to obtain ISO 37001:2016 anti-bribery management system certification. Leadership is crucial for an anti-bribery management system to be effective and all points under Clause 5 Leadership are requirements.

As illustrated in the standard: “For a compliance management system to be effective, the governing body and top management need to lead by example, by adhering to and actively supporting compliance and the compliance management system.” Management has a number of other responsibilities, which are outlined in the standard. There are responsibilities that are more obvious than others, such as “ensuring that the anti-bribery management system, including policy and objectives, is established, implemented, maintained and reviewed to adequately address the organisation’s bribery risk” (5.1.2. a) and “deploying accurate and appropriate resources for the effective operation of the anti-bribery management system” (5.1.2. c). There are also requirements that are not so obvious but just as important; “promoting an appropriate anti-bribery culture within the organisation” (5.1.2. h) and “promoting continual improvement” (5.1.2. i). These requirements highlight that obtaining ISO 37001:2016 certification is not just a box-ticking exercise. In order to obtain the certificate, a company needs to illustrate that compliance with anti-bribery legislation is integrated within its business model and, crucially, its culture. In practical terms, that means that the tone at the top needs to align with the ISO’s anti-bribery management system (ABMS) and the message needs to be understood from the boardroom to the factory floor.

Adopting bespoke policies

ISO 37001:2016 is a strategic approach to bribery risk identification and subsequent risk mitigation. Risk knowledge is a necessary factor for effective management. The adoption of ISO anti-bribery management system-tested principles and practices allows an organisation to tailor recommendations to its contextual business environment. ISO 37001:2016 has had the impact of making companies adhere to the international anti-bribery management system standard. As an international standard of high repute, ISO 37001 has brought changes to market dealings and firm operations. Organisations have a guideline of rules and code of ethics to follow to mitigate the risk of being involved in corruption charges. The international nature of the ISO 37001 management system allows organisations to align their internal policies with national laws where the organisation is operating. It is important to note that state-nations are increasingly internalising globally recognised legal anti-corruption frameworks and actively prosecuting offenders.

The assurance that an organisation is operating within international standards and processes helps cultivate social legitimacy in the operation of that company which directly serves to boost investor confidence and attract investors. Also, some consumers base their purchasing decisions on the ethical operations of a company. As such, the ISO standard serves as a pull factor for new consumers. Bribery is a very serious issue with adverse macroeconomic and microeconomic effects. In particular, it not only distorts markets and competition but also erodes the profitability of private firms and individual enterprises throughout an economy. The ISO anti-bribery management system provides measures that help organisations to prevent, detect, eradicate and address bribery. This is done by adopting anti-bribery policies, hiring personnel to oversee compliance risk management and due diligence on projects and business associates, implementing commercial and financial controls and also reporting and investigation procedures. ISO 37001:2016 can be used in any organisation regardless of its size, type whether public or private or non-profit.

Enhanced transparency

Identification and resolution of bribery risks increase an organisation’s capacity to deliver consistent and improved services to consumers within the law and without engaging in bribery and corruption. In addition, the anti-bribery management system improves the way the organisation protects its people from fraud and ensures that there is a favourable working environment. Therefore, the ISO 37001:2016 anti-bribery management system enhances transparency in organisational culture, thus promoting the optimisation of resources. Protection of the organisation’s assets, shareholders and management from the adverse effects of bribery and corruption is another benefit associated with an ISO standard anti-bribery management system. Often, the negative effects of corruption are economic in nature. For instance, bribery affects the profit margins of a company to the extent that the management has to divert funds meant for either operating capital or assets capital to facilitating bribes.

Additionally, the public knowledge that an organisation is actively involved in bribery or any other form of peddling influence affects brand identity, which erodes the consumer base, thus reducing the overall profitability of an organisation. This system can operate as a standalone facility or function under another system through integration. One advantage that cuts across all organisations is the amplification of confidence in the eyes of external stakeholders. From another perspective, an organisation using this ISO format is assured of a good reputation as well as an excellent working environment. The risk factors are minimised and a solid credential pathway is realised. Indeed, many for-profit outfits have consistently applied anti-bribery systems as a measure of acquiring extensive market penetration goals. The ISO 37001 typically seeks to create an accountability culture around the globe that allows organisations to conduct activities in a clean and healthy environment.

Committed approach

An organisation with an ISO: 37001 2016 certification is open to public scrutiny since its management operates without fear. Further, such an entity displays fidelity and compliance to bribery legislation, such as acts of parliament or the congress. More importantly, subscribing to the system certification demonstrates a commitment to collaborate and work with like-minded organisations in managing bribery and corruption in the world. The chain of responsibility and accountability, additionally, ensures that the supply chain systems used by the organisations conduct clean and verifiable business. Closely related to that advantage is the growth of moral and legal business transactions between businesses and their contractors. Corruption can permeate every corner of an organisation and the anti-bribery certification blocks such realities.

The ultimate beneficiary of ISO: 37001 is the shareholder. When an organisation bribes its way into the business and has its licence taken away, the shareholder loses their investment. If credibility is lost and the activity schedule goes down, it is the shareholder who bears the heaviest burden. However, bribery in organisations practically affects everyone in the political, commercial or social jurisdiction of such a company. Disgrace can lead to the loss of jobs. And a fined or closed company implies lower tax revenues to the government. Therefore, businesses should integrate ISO: 37001 2016 in their management operations as well as in risk and compliance.

Curbing risks

The ISO certification embeds a culture of corporate social responsibility and willingness to collaborate with law enforcement agencies. Cognisant of the backlash and opprobrium associated with corporate obstruction of justice in the investigation of bribery and corruption, the ISO certification allows organisations to document their proactive involvement in reviewing their compliance with global standards of anti-bribery management as well as the concrete measures the management has initiated to show its willingness to prevent and curb bribery risks.

Finally, it is important to note that organisations have a distinct legal personality away from the management and other stakeholders. The separate legal personality of an organisation means that an organisation is liable for bribery activities committed by its employees or its management. Under domestic laws, culpable organisations are subject to legal sanctions, which include hefty pecuniary fines and, in some cases, dissolution of the organisation. Pecuniary fines affect the operations of a company by diverting either operating capital or assets to unintended activities. Overall, diversion of financial resources to foot fines affects the profitability of a company as well. In addition, such diversion of financial resources through fines affects growth strategies, such as expansion into new markets. In this case, the provision of documented evidence to the prosecution or the courts demonstrates that an organisation has taken reasonable measures to prevent bribery and corruption, thus helping the organisation to avoid fines and sanctions, such as winding up.

Who is CRI Group?

Based in London, CRI Group works with companies across the Americas, Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia-Pacific as a one-stop international Risk Management, Employee Background Screening, Business Intelligence, Due Diligence and other professional Investigative Research solutions provider. We have the largest proprietary network of background screening analysts and investigators across the Middle East and Asia. Our global presence ensures that no matter how international your operations are, we have the network needed to provide you with all you need, wherever you happen to be. CRI Group also holds BS 102000:2013 and BS 7858:2012 Certifications, is an HRO certified provider and partner with Oracle.

In 2016, CRI Group launched the Anti-Bribery Anti-Corruption (ABAC®) Center of Excellence – an independent certification body established for ISO 37001:2016 Anti-Bribery Management Systems, ISO 37301 Compliance Management Systems and ISO 31000:2018 Risk Management, providing training and certification. ABAC® operates through its global network of certified ethics and compliance professionals, qualified auditors and other certified professionals. As a result, CRI Group’s global team of certified fraud examiners work as a discreet white-labelled supplier to some of the world’s largest organisations. Contact ABAC® for more on ISO Certification and training.

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