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Words: Amanda Pauley

Portraits: Chris Renton

The pressure is on for companies toput anti-bribery procedures in place.
Mike Betts, from the City of London
Police, talks about BS 10500, thestandard leading the charge

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WHAT ARE THE RISKS ASSOCIATED
WITH BRIBERY AND HOW ARE
ORGANISATIONS REACTING TO IT?
You’re never going to be able to completely stopbribery – it’s an offence of the human condition.
The economic downturn made the climate ripe forcorruption and the majority of those who do it don’t
see it as a crime, they see it as a mechanism to gain abusiness advantage and better lifestyle. The paymentof commissions has, in the past, been the realvehicle for bribes and organisations are investing in
extensive risk management, as well as due diligence,
financial controls and overarching policies, in orderto prevent it.
In my experience, it’s difficult to identify
if bribery has taken place unless you have theright controls in place. Businesses are becoming
increasingly aware of this. They’re now considering
everything from the best ways to seek work andthe appropriateness of commissions paid to agentsseeking the work on their behalf, to the controls inplace around the person authorising the process andthe agent who is paying the commissions.

Bribery is a major issue

for businesses, putting them at risk of criminal
prosecution, commercial costs and reputational
damage. The Bribery Act, which came into effectin July 2010, outlines the criminal law relating tobribery and emphasises the need for prevention,
which can only be achieved via a robust anti-bribery
management system.
Developed by the British Standards Institute(BSI), City of London Police and 28 otherorganisations, BS 10500 is gaining real momentum
despite being in its infancy (it was launched in
December 2011).
The standard allows companies to respondto stakeholder and customer needs by creating aframework for prohibiting, preventing, detecting,reporting and dealing with bribery.
With 29 years’ experience in the force and as oneof the UK’s leading specialists in the investigationof major fraud and corruption, Acting Detective
Inspector Mike Betts – Head of Training in the
Economic Crime and Fraud Training Academy
at the City of London Police – is a key player insupporting the implementation of the standard.
He spoke to QW about the inspiration behind
BS 10500, its benefits and how the police arehelping organisations to develop anti-bribery
strategies.
WHAT SPARKED THIS CLAMPDOWNON BRIBERY?
MIKE: Bribery used to be called the ‘Cinderellaof crime’ because it was hidden away and hardly
spoken about. Now, with events such as the phonehacking scandal and Arab Spring dominating thenews, corruption is back in the spotlight with a bigemphasis on two things; where it’s occurring andhow to prevent it.

“Bribery
used to becalled the‘Cinderellaof crime’
because it
was hidden
away andhardly spoken
about”

WHY WAS IT IMPORTANT TO
CREATE THE BS 10500 ANTI-BRIBERY
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (ABMS)?
The City of London Police continues to work
collaboratively with BSI and stakeholders to prevent
bribery. Our mission was to help create a standard
that was credible and realistic, and althoughbusinesses don’t legally have to have the procedures
within the ABMS in place, it’s their only defence
when under prosecution to demonstrate they had
implemented adequate procedures to try andprevent the bribe from being paid.
Corruption is somewhat intangible and it’s led toa lot of confusion in the business sector. It’s evident
that some managers don’t appreciate the impact
the Bribery Act is having and continue to stick theirheads in the sand, just hoping it doesn’t happen tothem. The management system has been designed
to help organisations do as much as reasonably
possible, in line with the act, to prevent bribery fromoccurring, and brings the issue into the boardroom– stating that corporate governance, ethics and goodbusiness sense are the measures required.
HOW DOES THE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMBENEFIT ORGANISATIONS?
We know bribery is a significant problem
for organisations in the UK, particularly when

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Image: Mike Betts at theCity of London Police
headquarters, March 2014

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operating internationally. Corruption often allowsfraudulent activity to prosper as the offences often
go hand in hand.
Organisations applying an ABMS are
demonstrating that they have taken the threatof corruption seriously and are implementing
controls to prevent it. It also helps organisations
better address markets, raise awareness from thefactory floor to top management and enhance theirinternal and external reputation. Stakeholders
demand sufficient anti-bribery measures because anorganisation’s corrupt actions can have ramificationsin terms of their brand reputation, tarnishing themby association.

The standard gives vital details on the adequate
procedures that organisations need to take inorder to harden them against bribery, by doing allthat is reasonably possible to avoid the disruptionof complex, and usually quite lengthy, bribery
investigations.
This extensive guidance allows those in charge
to be able to prevent wrongdoing and have bettersystems to identify when something has been done
improperly – ie to gain advantage. Although
BS 10500 is quite flexible in nature depending on
the bribery risks it faces, it does include a number ofsignificant steps to help organisations implement anABMS (see ‘Powerful Principles’, bottom right).

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WHAT INDUSTRIES ARE AT GREATERRISK IN TERMS OF BRIBERY?
Transparency International (TI), a global coalition
against corruption, has undertaken a lot of research
into which industries are perceived to attract thehighest levels of corruption. The construction sector
came in quite high and this is due to a numberof reasons. Firstly, the complexity of construction
contracts can often involve many subcontractors
and specifications, and are usually highly expensive.
The regime of inspection and measurement byquantity surveyors makes them vulnerable to theoffer of bribes. Secondly, it comes down to location.
For example, if you’re operating in a high risk

“The standard
brings theissue into theboardroom,
stating that
corporate
governance,
ethics andgood businesssense are themeasuresrequired”

industry in a country with high levels of corruption,such as Afghanistan, then the combination isvolatile enough that corrupt activity can be borneout of it.
DO YOU THINK BS 10500 IMPROVES ALLAREAS OF THE BUSINESS, INCLUDINGSTAKEHOLDER CONFIDENCE AND
REPUTATION?
What’s important to remember is that the Bribery
Act is good for UK organisations as it promotes
ethical and fair business. It goes with businesses
where ever they go in the world – it has extra
territorial reach. So regardless of the culture of
the country they’re doing business in, organisations
have to be aware of the act and put procedures inplace to act accordingly. The cost of implementing
a preventive management system is minimalcompared to the reputational and financial harmcaused by organisations and those associated withthem falling foul of the law.
In order to implement the management system,
organisations have to examine risks across theentire business, looking at risks everywhere fromthe financial and procurement sectors to sales andmarketing. The risk assessment carried out will

POWERFUL PRINCIPLES“The Bribery Act is accompanied byextremely good guidance but organisations
need more meat on the bones to ensure
their procedures comply,” says Suzanne
Fribbins, BSI’s Risk Management Specialist(pictured left). “This is where BS 10500
comes to the fore. The standard takesa risk-based approach and requires
reasonable and proportionate measures to prevent bribery.”•An organisation’s board of directors must take the leadership andadopt a zero tolerance approach to bribery.
•Responsibility for compliance has to be assigned.
•Staff must be trained so they understand what bribery is, what to
do when faced with it, who to report to and how to avoid it.
•Implementation of the ABMS has to embed policies, procedures
and controls required to prevent bribery.
•Organisations must conduct an appropriate level of due diligenceon third-parties, including business partners and supply chain.
•If a failure in the ABMS occurs with a case of bribery taking place,the system needs to ensure the company acts to investigate anddeal with the incident, and puts in place measures to ensure it does
not occur again.

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differ depending on each organisation but it’s anecessary act to ensure everyone understands thedynamics of corruption. This not only prevents
reputational damage but effectively increases
stakeholder confidence.
BS 10500 also helps organisations mitigate
these risks in order to improve sustainability andcontribute to quality assurance. By putting various
reporting channels in place, people who suspectbribery can report it without fear, and by creating
effective hospitality policies, management canmake sure the correct controls are in place in every
area of the business. To be externally verified bya third-party auditor not only confirms that anorganisation has met the standard’s requirements
but is a powerful demonstration of its commitment
to battling bribery. The hard part is making surethat these things are living and breathing beyond
the date of inspection and that can only happen
if organisations make sure risk assessments areup-to-date.
HOW CAN BUSINESSES LEARN TO
IDENTIFY BRIBERY?
The City of London Police has been delivering aseries of training programmes with BSI about antibribery management and bribery investigations,
to give businesses peace of mind about their

THE LAW OF THE CYCLEJohn Burbidge King (pictured left),
CEO of Interchange Solutions, explains
the importance of the Plan, Do, Check,
Act (PDCA) approach in BS 10500“Based on a defined project plan andsupported by the board, BS 10500 setsout a risk-based methodology for theimplementation of anti-bribery policies and procedures consistent
with guidance to the Bribery Act. It provides substantive evidenceof adequate procedures which are the key defence an organisation
has against an allegation of failing to prevent bribery, and takes it
further by putting procedures in place for reporting and investigating
incidents, as well as a monitoring cycle to prevent further mishaps.
The PDCA approach underpins best practice and adds value by
cultivating a continual improvement and review process, which sits
well with any organisation familiar with standards such as ISO 9001
or ISO 27001. Also, given the external certification and substanceof the standard, it’s possible it will become a differentiator in the
pre-qualification of companies in supply chains or for providers
to procuring agencies, by showing ethical and other relevant”.

“The cost ofimplementing
a preventivemanagement
system is
minimalcomparedto thereputationaland financial
harm
caused byorganisations
falling foul ofthe law”

anti-bribery strategies. The programme assistsorganisations in understanding what a bribe looks
and feels like.
People need to be aware of corruption in everyform, from inducements to influence bought, andthat bribes can be anything from products that failas a result of corrupt activity in the supply chain topeople leading a lifestyle that is out of kilter withtheir income. These workshops show managers how
to keep an eye on all parts of the business, fromcorporate entertainment and hospitality to what’s
happening in the supply chain.
ARE MANY COMPANIES IN THE UK
STILL FALLING FOUL OF THE BRIBERYACT BY NOT HAVING ADEQUATEPROCEDURES IN PLACE?
The UK is faring pretty well but on the TI
Perception Index, which is a league table publishedeach year to compare the perception of corruption
around the world, we’re failing to significantly
improve our position.
People are hearing and seeing corruption morethan ever before and one of the reasons is because
our media are highly effective in getting the news
out to the masses instantly.
The UK suffers from both styles of corruption.
The first is grand corruption – which deals withprocurement, contracts and large payments madeto secure significant business. The second is petty
corruption – routine bribery, normally of public
officials who are usually low-ranking.
These creeping, corrosive levels of corruption
need to be dealt with and the Bribery Act
and ABMS are, in my view, the only effective
mechanisms to help companies deal with the threat.
Although both are relatively new, there are currently
a number of cases under investigation that relate tocorporate liability and adequate procedures.
As more cases are prosecuted in the near future,
we could see the real teeth of the act.
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD
FOR BS 10500, AND HOW MIGHT IT
CHANGE?
It’s already evolving because the mechanisms
for paying bribes are constantly changing. Aspeople become more aware of the legislation,they’re going to try to find new ways of concealing
their criminality. It’s absolutely crucial that themanagement system and legislation framework
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