An Effective Anti-Corruption Solution Should be Provided on Multi-Lingual Platforms
There are many public resources that have detailed information on how to create a compliance program that follows the rules for FCPA, OECD and the SEC. With many companies beginning to conduct business globally, having a system in place that addresses corruption is important; especially since business done on foreign soil is operated by a local native speaker representative. Many companies tend to have a plan in place and distribute them amongst their 3rd party business partners and suppliers, to ensure they are following their guidelines as well. But as we’ve seen in recent actions set forth by the SEC against the Bruker Corporation, making sure that anti-corruption compliance resources are available to contacts in their native language seems to be a must. In an article written by Peter Viksnins of the FCPA Blog, information between all parties involved must have the right resources to ensure proper anti-corruption procedures. Failure to do so, in Bruker Corporation’s case, is what gave the SEC justification to proceed with action.
“Bruker did not translate its training presentations on FCPA, ethics, or compliance issues into local languages, including Mandarin. And although Bruker implemented an FCPA policy in 2006, it failed to translate that policy into Mandarin and relied mainly on its China-based managers to ensure that employees understood the potential FCPA implications of doing business with SOEs. Also, while Bruker periodically distributed its Code of Conduct (containing its gifts and entertainment policies) and employee handbook to employees worldwide, it again failed to translate these documents into local languages, including Chinese.”
Other items such centralizing the information, making it accessible to all parties, and having mechanisms in place to monitor employees, partners, and suppliers was also an issue that was addressed.
“Bruker also failed to adequately monitor and supervise the senior executives at the Bruker China Offices to ensure that they enforced anti-corruption policies or kept accurate records concerning payments to Chinese government officials. The Bruker China Offices had no independent compliance staff or an internal audit function that had authority to intervene into management decisions and, if appropriate, take remedial actions.”
Moving forward, companies are going to need to find better solutions that give companies the ability to centralize, monitor, and train 3rd party business partners. A solution that can provide this and deliver it in a multi-language platform would be ideal for companies for complying with SEC and DOJ regulations. Cloud based solutions are creating more efficient ways for companies to handle their anti-corruption needs. Learn more on how to establish a cloud-based solution with your existing risk management policy, click here.
