Small to Medium Enterprises are Growing but so is Their Bribery Risk

With the number of small to medium enterprises increasing in Europe and a large number increasing their operations in areas where the U.K. Bribery Act is enforced, many of these companies are unaware of the specifics on how this can affect them. Many do believe, however, that they are aware of the law and feel that they are equipped to combat bribery; if it were to be an issue within their organization. What many don’t know that is the issue is waiting externally and that this poses their greatest risk.

The idea is not to understand where your vulnerabilities land within your organization; it is about assessing those that are beyond your physical control. SME’s find opportunities in markets that are developing and in many cases very susceptible to on going bribery and corruption. According to an article put out by the Out-Law it writes 59% of SME’s have not assessed for their external exposure:

“A third of UK SMEs have assessed the risk of being asked for bribes but 59% of respondents said their company had not made such an assessment, the government said. Bribery risk assessments are more common among SMEs who are exporting to the less developed export regions (36%) and in particular to China (52%)"

These reports also saw that fewer than half of the SME’s have put in place some sort of bribery prevention. Which means the majority are in positions where they find them selves exposed to a great mount of risk.

SME’s are in situations where they have opportunities to expand but they lack the resources or knowledge to protect them. Like any other business, they find opportunities where they can grow, and in many cases this means conducting business in areas where it would elevate their exposure to bribery and corruption risk.

Ultimately, any business of any size needs to have procedures and protocols in place to identify and deal with bribery and corruption. The laws that govern this type of issue does not look passed the lack of resources or size of company. Educating your company is essential for a positive growth and to make sure to avoid this issue in the future. If you are going to increase your risk for broader opportunity, then it would be in your best interest to find solutions that can safe guard you as much as possible. Here are some resources that may assist you in that, click here.