Recently, the Hipoges group obtained ISO 37001 and UNE 19601 certifications in the Anti-Bribery Management System and the Criminal Compliance Management System, respectively, by the international certification body EQA. For Hipoges, Criminal Compliance has become a fundamental prevention plan, aware of the importance of excellence in new practices in the ESG field.
The ISO 37001 Anti-Bribery Management Certification obtained for Spain and Portugal, accredited by ENAC, establishes the requirements to ensure good practices within companies and other organizations in the prevention, detection, and response to bribery. This certification pursues the purpose that companies implement, develop and evaluate and, in this way, the compliance system is effective. One of its main objectives is to avoid any action that implies non-compliance with the law and, in turn, that there is an immediate sanction, either a sanction or a reputational loss within the company.
The UNE 19601 certification shares the same objective as the ISO 37001 standard but is applicable only in the Spanish legal framework. The origin of this regulation dates back to the reforms of the Criminal Code of 2010 and 2015, which establishes the criminal liability of legal persons. The Compliance area of Hipoges, in relation to the UNE 19601 standard (certification accredited by ENAC in the EQA), tells us that “we celebrate this certification since it translates into the establishment and efficient development of an internal structure and methodology. This method, in turn, ensures good practices in the Compliance area and thus can prevent crimes, as provided for in Article 31-A of the Criminal Code.”
In turn, and with regard to the certification related to the ISO 37001 standard, this is specific to providing a guide for the implementation, support, review and improvement of an anti-bribery management system, a topic closely linked to the management of a compliance system.
The anti-bribery certification, accredited by ENAC, is also recommended and useful for companies that hire in the public sector, as well as for those that focus their activity in the purely private sphere. In addition, it is also suitable for non-profit organizations, whatever their size.
In the words of Blanca Morales, our Corporate Counsel of the Legal Advisory & Compliance department, “the Compliance department is always looking to strengthen its position against criminal risks, both internally and vis-à-vis our customers, nationally and internationally.”
To which Cristina Brey, Team Coordinator Legal Advisory & Compliance, also from the Compliance department, adds that “the process to obtain the certification involved eight months of hard work and auditing, in which we saw involve many departments of Hipoges, as well as senior management. This certification demonstrates the compliance of all employees with good practices, as well as their commitment against fraud and corruption. The next steps for Hipoges will be to continue to reinforce the values against corruption, not only to of all employees, but also to the business partners with whom Hipoges works.”
