BSI Case Study
BS 10500 Case Study: Specification for an Anti-bribery Management System
Balfour Beatty
Balfour Beatty is a leading It employs more than 50,000
global infrastructure business, people and is one of the largest
which undertakes infrastructure construction companies in the UK
investments and provides and the 15th largest in the world.
professional, construction
With its head office in London,
and support services.
Balfour Beatty operates in over 80
The company is listed on the countries, principally in the UK, US,
London Stock Exchange and had South-East Asia, Australia and the
total revenue of over £11bn in 2011. Middle East. Andrew Hayward
Head of Ethics and Compliance
BSI Case Study
Reason for interest in BS 10500 Assessment of Balfour Beatty’s policies and procedures. Each of Balfour
anti-corruption programme Beatty’s separate operating units also has
Balfour Beatty undertakes its own compliance officer. “Balfour Beatty supports the
business in numerous medium against BS 10500 creation of BS 10500 Anti-
• Balfour Beatty has risk assessment and due
and high corruption risk Balfour Beatty’s Head of Ethics and Compliance
diligence procedures which apply in relation bribery Management System
territories. The board and and Head of Risk Management & Assurance
to the appointment of agents, joint venture Specification.”
discussed each BS 10500 requirement with a
management of Balfour Beatty partners, sub-contractors and suppliers, and
Andrew Hayward
BSI-appointed consultant, and compared the
are determined to ensure that company’s policies and procedures with the BS
prior to tendering for projects in medium or
Head of Ethics and Compliance
the company has adequate high corruption risk markets.
10500 requirements. Although the purpose of at Balfour Beatty
procedures in place to prevent the exercise was to assess the applicability and • The company also leverages its financial,
it becoming involved in any feasibility of BS 10500 and not, at this stage, commercial and procurement controls to
corrupt transactions. Balfour Beatty’s compliance with it, following help monitor and control corruption risks
the assessment Balfour Beatty believes that in relation to transactions.
Balfour Beatty believes that it its anti-bribery compliance programme is
• Controls are in place in relation to gifts
has implemented an anti-bribery consistent in all material respects with the
and hospitality, and facilitation payments
compliance programme which is requirements of the standard:
are prohibited.
compliant with international best • Balfour Beatty has a clear anti-corruption
• The company has an internal audit
practice. It has participated in this policy, which has been communicated to
function which is responsible for
pilot study of BS 10500 primarily its employees, clients and supply chain and
compliance audits, as well as audits
for the following reasons: is posted on the company’s web-site. The
of financial and commercial controls.
company’s board and senior management
• To explore how BS 10500 actively lead the implementation of this • An externally administered whistle-blowing Learning Benefits of the standard 4 The way in which organisations of
helpline is widely publicised to employees From the assessment, Balfour Beatty Balfour Beatty helped to create BS 10500 different sizes and in different sectors
could be used by a qualified policy. A combination of on-line and in-
and other relevant parties. Any report learnt that: and is a strong supporter of the helpful would implement an ABMS would
external body to assess and person training is provided to
vary, but the standard is not unduly
relevant employees. relevant to the company’s compliance role it can play. The Head of Ethics &
certify (to the company’s programme is referred to the Head of
• BS 10500 appears to be a suitable tool
Compliance was a member of BSI’s prescriptive and its requirements
board, customers and other • The company has a Board Committee for assessing the anti-bribery management
Ethics & Compliance and is required to BS 10500 drafting panel. are suitably generic;
(the Business Practices Committee) systems of a company such as itself.
third parties) the be investigated in accordance with the 5 The pilot study exercise helped
comprising Balfour Beatty’s non-executive Balfour Beatty believes that:
implementation of the company’s investigation procedures. • There were no significant differences
demonstrate that BS 10500 works
Chairman and four non-executive directors. between the requirements of BS 10500 1 The Standard’s requirements for an
company’s anti-bribery This committee meets three times per year • The company maintains records of its anti- well in practice, in that it can practically
and the anti-bribery compliance effective ABMS are appropriate;
compliance programme. and reviews the company’s implementation corruption programme and any compliance be used to assess a company’s
programme that Balfour Beatty
of its anti-bribery policies and procedures. issues which arise. Records include matters 2 It is scalable to organisations of implementation of an ABMS in
• As a positive contribution has implemented.
different sizes; accordance with the Standard;
Meetings are also attended by the Head such as the steps taken to implement
to the development of anti- the anti-corruption programme, training • The pilot study exercise helped
of Ethics & Compliance and other relevant 3 It is appropriate for different 6 BS 10500 is an important tool in
corruption best practice. executive managers. provided, gifts and hospitality given and demonstrate that BS 10500 works well
sectors, as the requirements of the fight against corruption, not
received, due diligence conducted, and in practice and could be used to assess a
BS 10500 are consistent with least because it could help promote
• The Head of Ethics & Compliance is company’s implementation of an ABMS.
the justifications for the selected method of anti-bribery best practice; and improve consistent best practice
responsible for ensuring that the company
carrying out business in high risk countries. both nationally and internationally.
effectively implements its anti-corruption
Balfour Beatty is actively considering
“The requirements for an effective ABMS are appropriate for seeking certification to the Standard. If and
when it does so, it would want to agree a
different sectors and sizes of organization and are consistent detailed protocol with a reputable certifying
with anti-bribery best practice in general” organisation that provided as much insight as
Andrew Hayward possible into how effectively all the operating
Head of Ethics and Compliance at Balfour Beatty units of Balfour Beatty had embedded the
anti-bribery management system.
About BS 10500: 2011 Specification for About BSI Standards
an Anti-bribery Management System BSI is the UK’s national standards organization, recognized
In November 2011, BSI Standards published BS 10500: globally for its independence, integrity and innovation
Specification for an Anti-bribery Management System. in the production of standards and information products that
promote and share best practice.
BS 10500 is intended to help an organisation to implement an
effective anti-bribery management system. It can be used both BSI works with businesses, consumers and government to
in the UK and internationally. The requirements of UK law and represent UK interests and to make sure that British, European
internationally recognised good practice are taken into account. It and international standards are useful, relevant and authoritative.
is applicable to small, medium and large organisations in the public, BSI has been instrumental in the creation, development and
private and voluntary sectors. promotion of instantly recognizable and well-renowned standards.
These include:
In order to comply with BS 10500, an organisation must implement
a series of management measures, including the adoption and • BS 25999-1 for business continuity management
communication of an anti-bribery policy, training and guidance • BS ISO/IEC 27001 for information security management
for employees, appointing a compliance manager, undertaking • BS EN ISO 9001 for quality management
risk assessment and due diligence, controlling gifts and hospitality,
• BS EN ISO 14001 for environmental management
implementing effective procurement, commercial and financial
• BS OHSAS 18001 for occupational health and safety management.
controls, and instituting reporting and investigation procedures.
For further information, please visit:
Compliance with BS 10500 cannot provide assurance that no bribery
www.bsi-global.com/britishstandards
has occurred or will take place in relation to an organisation. However,
the standard can help establish that the organisation has implemented
reasonable and proportionate measures designed to prevent bribery. BSI Standards is part of BSI Group, a global independent business
Well-managed ethical organisations are likely to implement services organization that inspires confidence and delivers assurance
anti-bribery management systems in their organisations in the same to customers with standards-based solutions. Originating as the
way that they would implement quality, environmental and safety world’s first national standards body, the Group has over 2,250 staff
management systems. operating in over 100 countries through more than 50 global offices.
The Group’s key offerings are:
Organisations can use BS 10500 to measure and self-declare their
compliance with anti-bribery best practice. In addition, they may obtain • The development and sale of private, national and international
independent certification of their compliance with the standard, just as standards and supporting information
they do for ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and OHSAS 18001. • Second and third-party management systems assessment
The cost of implementing an anti-bribery management system which and certification
is compliant with BS 10500 is likely to be minimal when compared • Product testing and certification of services and products
to the loss and damage which could be suffered by an organisation • Performance management software solutions
which gets involved in corruption.
• Training services in support of standards implementation
To obtain a copy of BS 10500, please visit: and business best practice.
http://shop.bsigroup.com/BS10500
This case study was enabled by the Department for Business, Innovation and
Skills as part of its ongoing commitment to supporting innovation in the UK.
For more information, please visit www.bsi-global.com
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