Basel Institute on Governance Homologation Reports

certification

Basel Institute on Governance Homologation Reports

Excerpts of the 2006 Homologation

Excerpts of the 2009 Homologation

Excerpts from the 2006 Basel Institute on Governance Homologation Letter

The Basel Institute on Governance fully supports [ETHIC Intelligence’s] endeavor and is available to continue to cooperate with ETHIC Intelligence International and its licensed partners in assessing process and ensuring quality of implementation.

In its 2006 assessment of ETHIC Intelligence activities, the Basel Institute on Governance states that, in light of the enhanced legal, financial and reputational risk brought upon by corruption, “companies are well advised to implement strict policies and behavioral rules on corruption, bribery, money laundering and other forms of economic crime.”

The Institute further states that "The proposal of ETHIC Intelligence to set up a certification agency on a private and voluntary basis is not only very timely but one wonders why such an initiative has not been started before”.

The letter explicitly states that “it is in the utmost interest of trade and industry that companies can submit themselves voluntarily to such an independent review and control in a self regulatory manner” while adding that “self-regulation in many ways is less bureaucratic and more flexible than public supervision”.

The letter concludes that “the initiators and founders of ETHIC Intelligence should be lauded for their initiative […] The Basel Institute on Governance fully supports their endeavour and is available to continue to cooperate with ETHIC Intelligence International and its licensed partners in assessing processes and ensuring quality of implementation".

Excerpts of the Basel Institute’s 2009 Homologation letter

The Basel Institute comes to the conclusion that ETHIC Intelligence’s business proposal is a valid approach to [demonstrating that] anti-corruption measures taken by a firm are of an appropriate quality

Further to its 2006 appraisal of ETHIC Intelligence’s “concept for a Business Integrity Certification process”, the Basel Institute on Governance has, in 2009, reviewed the organizational system and practical experience with the ETHIC Intelligence certification program.

In its assessment, the Basel Institute of Governance “comes to the conclusion that ETHIC Intelligence’s business proposal is a valid approach to [demonstrating that] anti-corruption measures taken by a firm are of an appropriate quality” while adding that “as such assurance cannot be achieved through the usual audit or rating process, ETHIC Intelligence’s particular business offer should continue to be of interest to potential clients”, citing in particular the interest of any company “exposed to the risk of corruption and the negative consequences thereof”.

The Institute further states that “the approach chosen by ETHIC Intelligence to help those concerned with a business integrity certification process against the background of recent developments […] may be even more important now than when the initiative started back in 2005”.

The Homologation letter concludes that “an independent and targeted review of a company’s anti-corruption measures, a validation report with a description of the process and of its impact as well as recommendations for further improvement should be of interest to any company exposed to the risk of corruption and the negative consequences thereof. Such an audit and its recommendations are indispensible preconditions for a quality assessment and [constitute] the sound basis for the ETHIC Intelligence Certification Committee – composed of renowned anti-corruption experts – to take a well-founded decision to certify that a company’s anti-corruption policies are in compliance with international laws and best practice standards”.

Tags : Basel Institute on Governance, anti-corruption certification process, quality control of certification, homologation