'The UK Bribery Act Is The Strictest Legislation In The World, With Penalties To Match.'

Online, April 18, 2013 (Newswire.com) - Ernst & Young's Fraud Investigation & Dispute Services Teams Research Report (05/03/13) outlines that nearly half (48%) of British companies are failing to vet their suppliers for compliance with the UK Bribery Act. www.ey.com/UK/Newsroom/News-releases/13-03-05/13-03-05---Only-half-of-British-Businesses-vet-their-suppliers-for-UK-Bribery-Act-compliance

The FSA, customers and business partners now expect organisations to demonstrate that 'adequate procedures' have been put in place, as outlined in the framework of the BS 10500; a standard designed to assist businesses to implement effective and robust anti-bribery management procedures and, thereby achieve compliance with the UK Bribery Act legislation.

'The UK Bribery Act is the strictest legislation in the World,' comments Jeremy Crame, CEO of Hitec Laboratories. 'far more so than the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), with penalties to match. The risks to businesses are growing on a daily basis, with global organisations becoming increasingly vulnerable to the conduct of their partners, suppliers and global employees.'

The British Standards Institute (BSI) has issued its recommendations (contained within BS10500) for an Anti-bribery Management System (ABMS) and it's against this Standard that most organisations will now be audited.

The ABMS standard is designed to encourage Best Practice and recommends that records are maintained of all stakeholders who have received the Anti-Bribery procedures, those who have made a compliance declaration and those who have not, with an associated action plan to address the latter.

Creating proportionate procedures, with top level commitment from the Board and having completed a risk assessment and a due diligence exercise is crucial; however, if a communication and knowledge assessment programme is not implemented, an organisation is still exposed to substantial risk.

Jeremy continues 'To consistently manage and communicate all forms of corporate policies and procedures, responsible organisations are turning towards Policy Lifecycle Management solutions as a way to assist with their Adequate Procedures requirement. A multilingual solution that supports the key principles of BS10500 ensures that policies and procedures are professionally communicated, read and understood by employees, applied consistently, regularly reviewed and fully auditable. This provides evidence in case any litigation occurs, supporting organisations to reduce exposure to serious reputational and financial damage.'

Proactive management and communication of business-critical policies is vital in today's heavily regulated business environment. Utilising a solution that effectively manages these challenges and is implemented as a central part of business strategy will greatly reduce risk and provide a solid return on investment, creating trust and credibility with all stakeholders and mitigating the serious threats of non-compliance.