REAL LIVES.TRUE STORIES.
In Brief: Keeping Business Clean
A Framework for Success
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Corporations committing to zero corruption is only a first step – the challenge is putting their promises into practice. Offering trainings, guidance and educational resources, we support companies as they seek to implement anti-corruption programmes, making it easier for them to stay true to their word. INDONESIA
Responsible for the country’s national power supply, Indonesia’s state electricity company faces a high risk of bribery from would-be vendors. Invited by the company to help strengthen their anti-corruption defences, we have implemented new whistleblower mechanisms, promoted anti-graft guidance and asked potential bidders to sign our integrity pact – a public commitment to honest dealings. Already, 35 contractors have taken up the offer.
UGANDA Uganda’s economy is driven by small and medium-sized enterprises – they make up 80 per cent of the private sector and three-quarters of the gross domestic product. Yet as reports of kickbacks remain frequent and ethics trainings rare, corruption holds back development. Targeting these companies, our two-day workshop introduced 30 representatives to our new anti-corruption handbook, a comprehensive guide to keeping business clean.
UNITED KINGDOM Two out of three people think corruption is part of the UK’s corporate culture, according to a recent survey, yet the take-up of our anti-corruption tools suggests we have reason to be positive. Offering best practice anti-bribery training for real-life scenarios, our e-learning course has been visited 6,000 times, while our due diligence guidance for mergers and acquisitions has racked up 9,000 downloads.
Participants from our training for micro, small and medium sized enterprises in Uganda, which introduced business people to our new anti-corruption handbook. © Transparency International Uganda
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Whether it’s with customers or business partners, all enterprises understand the importance of trust. It’s the key to solid and lasting business relationships, and as stakeholder demands for corporate responsibility mount, it’s more important than ever. But for trust to develop, stakeholders need to be kept informed, and the information they receive needs to be credible.
This is where we come in. With the Assurance Framework for Corporate Anti-Bribery Programmes, we are helping companies demonstrate their integrity to the public in a way that is not only reliable, but independently verified. The first tool of its kind, the framework defines criteria for independent assurance of companies’ anti-corruption systems – providing benchmarks to help compliance teams design and evaluate bribery prevention programmes and show progress over time, and standards against which these programmes can be independently assessed by external assurance experts. “Stakeholders are seeking greater credibility for companies’ anti-bribery measures,” says Jermyn Brooks, Chair of our Business Advisory Board. “The Assurance Framework will help businesses demonstrate that they have well-designed systems in place, and assist them in benchmarking and improving their anti-bribery programmes.” In the complex global marketplace, the framework helps companies build an increasingly valuable asset – trust.