By: Kimberly Ramkhalawan
June 10, 2022
Summit of the Americas CEO sessions saw Massy’s Gervase Warner and BHP Compliance, Susan Sierra come together to discuss ‘Fostering Integrity and Combating Corruption through Technology’.
With corruption perceived to be a governmental issue mostly, the two CEO’s says its often present in most organisations, as for it to happen, two agreeing parties are needed. Sierra who is CEO at BHP Compliance, shared that its not necessarily governments that are corrupt but employees within the system that carry out such practices. Sierra says it goes beyond the legal and compliant areas of private sector companies, but an understanding of their role outside of blaming politicians and working together to rid corruption from all sectors.
Gervase Warner, CEO of the Massy Group, puts corruption as a transaction between a corrupted entity seeking to gain a service through some payment or favour. He says it’s not possible for corruption to exist in a public space unless there are corrupt actors on both sides, something he says exists everywhere, as its often an incentive to avoid headaches. He describes it as being done for personal gain, and something that has human behaviour and dynamics behind it and the first step to really combat corruption, is to acknowledge it is real and not something ethereal.
He says at Massy, business integrity is essential, and the way he sees it, is a matter of elevating the conversation around honesty and integrity, making these fundamental values all while ensuring leadership sets the tone. Explaining that if fraud and corruption were to continue to be ignored by company leadership, the practice he says will fester, becoming widespread across the entity.
As for governments, Warner says while many have the common practice to say they don’t stand for corruption, he begs to ask the question where is the leadership making sure the necessary changes happen.
He adds that the lack of confidence in democracy stems from a large part of corruption going unchecked when there are hardly any processes to keep in line. But the moment something gets done about it, and people see examples of prosecution, they gain confidence that democracy stands a chance.
As to what ways this has shaped Massy’s operations with the public sector, Warner said it’s a matter of them establishing that anyone doing business with Massy are not going to be part of any corruption, and does not get asked anymore as its become part of his company’s standard. And while Warner says it does not mean there aren’t a few people trying to do something illegal, people are very clear about what Massy stands for, and if something does happen, action usually follows. Steps his company has taken include business integrity roadshows where they engage in personnel that have had on-hand experience with sting operations in bringing practitioners of corruption to speak to staff, all helping employees to be on their constant guard.
As for BHP Compliance, the introduction of blocking and artificial intelligence for the monitoring of ethical business practices, reduces the paper work for doing business with other companies in the private sector and NGOs, by ensuring all partners are compliant with their own legal and compliance frameworks.
The paperwork often being large manuals that outline company bylaws, policies and frameworks for operations, all now digital.
Seirra says the technology generates evidence that the companies are doing correct procedures and even if they are not, it is good to be aware, something that may not necessarily always be wrong, but simply obsolete with the current era and context.
She adds it also does not mean you are going to be corrupt if you are not following your company policy, but have the capabilities rather to monitor and control, all while having the technology to ensure business is done right.
Warner says it is critical for companies to have a declaration around integrity and ethics, as you can’t really know how well you are doing if you don’t have the processes to detect, or measure corruption if you have not set in place the processes to ensure things are done right.
To this Sierra said we need to recognize that companies are not just buildings, but people, and ones with values with a purpose, where all companies should have a mission that emphasizes the trust needed among companies around the world.