DUBAI:Dubai Accreditation Department (DAC) officially recognises global firm’s ability to help ensure that organisations bring management systems into compliance and prevent bribery.CorporateResearch andInvestigationsLLC “CRI Group” (www.CRIGroup.com) announced today that it has been granted accreditation by the Dubai Accreditation Department (DAC) for the scope of ISO 37001:2016 Anti-Bribery Management System Conformity Assessment Body. The accreditation is the first of its kind awarded to a certification body specializing in global anti-bribery and anti-corruption, risk and compliance standards.
Headquartered in Dubai, CRI Group is the foremost Conformity Assessment Body in ISO 37001:2016 Anti-Bribery Management Systems Certification, providing expert lead auditor and internal auditor training through its highly regarded “Anti-Bribery Anti-Corruption (ABAC174) Centre of Excellence.”
Ms. Amina Ahmed Mohammed, CEO of DAC, offered her congratulations to Corporate Research and Investigations LLC – CRI Group, Dubai, UAE for becoming the first and only certification body to fulfil the criteria and be accredited by DAC for ISO 37001:2016. She said that DAC has launched an accreditation scheme for anti-bribery management in line with the Dubai government’s approach toward achieving the highest standards and transparency among public and private sector organisations.
The accreditation empowers CRI Certification to provide the highest level of audit services for multinational organizations seeking to bring their management systems into compliance with global standards (pursuant to the requirements of ISO 17021-1:2015) while conforming to the ever-evolving levels of standards dictated by multi-jurisdictional regions around the world.
“It is a special honor to be the very first accredited conformity assessment body in the Middle East, Asia and the UK,” said Zafar I. Anjum, Group CEO of CRI Group, the parent company of Anti-Bribery Anti-Corruption (ABAC174) Centre of Excellence. “This accreditation is a testament to the expertise of our global network of audit specialists and the result of 28 years providing high-level risk management and compliance solutions to organizations worldwide seeking to combat the detrimental effects of bribery and corruption.”
ISO 37001:2016 certification helps establish that an organization has implemented reasonable and proportionate measures designed to prevent bribery. These measures involve top-level leadership, training, risk assessment, due diligence, financial and commercial controls, reporting, audit and investigation.
“This certification is not a simple ‘check-the-box’ standard,” said Anjum. “It’s a complex process that requires participating organizations to fully demonstrate their implementation of internal processes, policies and controls throughout an extensive evidence-based, multi-stage audit. To do that requires a highly competent and experienced audit team with years of substantive field experience as investigators, compliance officers and legal professionals.”
Anjum further added that “CRI Group is comprised of subject-specific experts with diversified specialty areas.”
Global organizations are increasingly seeking ISO 37001:2016 certification as they continue to make significant investments in compliance program enhancements, seeing such certification as a competitive advantage to winning business with major multinationals, and as a strategy for avoiding multiple, overlapping compliance efforts by their business partners.
Certification adds a distinct level of credibility to the organization’s management systems while offering a wealth of additional benefits:
It ensures that the organization is implementing a viable anti-bribery management program utilizing widely accepted controls and systems.
It provides assurance to management, investors, business associates, personnel and other stakeholders that the organization is actively pursuing internationally recognized and accepted processes to prevent bribery and corruption.
It protects the organization, its assets, shareholders and directors from the effects of bribery.
It provides acceptable evidence to prosecutors or courts that the organization has taken reasonable steps to prevent bribery and corruption.
While ISO 37001:2016 certification does not provide a safe harbor against regulatory enforcement, it is intended to be evidence that a certified company has taken meaningful steps toward effective compliance. Management systems compliance that is certified by an accredited third-party body can possibly help remove any criminal responsibility under certain juridical systems.
