International Standards Organization Issues Certification Standard For Anti-Bribery Compliance Systems

On October 15, 2016, the International Standards Organization Technical Committee ISO/PC 278 issued ISO 37001 titled, "Anti-bribery management systems - Requirements with guidance for use." ISO 37001(the Standard) "specifies requirements" related to "establishing, implementing, maintaining, reviewing and improving an anti-bribery management system." The Standard dictates what companies "shall" do rather than "should" do, meaning that these requirements can be certified by objective criteria. The Standard is likely to have widespread adoption, with the standard-setting bodies of 37 countries participating in the creation of the Standard, including the United States (ANSI), United Kingdom (BSI), Brazil (ABNT), India (BIS) and China (SAC).