ICL Services' anti-corruption policy is key to its corporate success

The most common crimes of corruption around the world are fraud, appropriation, embezzlement and abuse of power, all of which throw a wrench in the economic growth both at the global and national levels. It should therefore come as no surprise that more and more measures are being introduced every year at the political, economic and corporate levels to combat corruption. In the case of corporate regulations, the measures included in them must be followed by both rank and file employees and top management alike. It is only on the condition that this principle is followed to the letter that corporate equality of rights and prosperity can be achieved.

This practise is a key principle of business conduct at ICL Services, which is ranked among the top 25 participants in the Russian IT market according to Tadviser. The company leads by example in demonstrating how implementing an anti-corruption policy can help a business grow in the market.

As a key global IT services company, ICL Services follows the leading business practices as it goes about setting its strategic goals. The company has clients in more than 30 countries around the world and it has adapted to each one of them while being guided exclusively by honesty and transparency. The huge experience in providing IT services on international markets has helped the company develop a special anti-corruption policy as part of its social responsibility agenda. The anti-corruption policy was developed as a policy the precepts of which must be followed by every employee and the main goal of which is combatting corruption every step of the way.

ICL Services’ anti-corruption policy comprises standards, principles and procedures for interacting with government organisations, political parties and movements as well as provisions for how the company should engage in charitable activities. It’s important that, when the policy was developed, the experience of colleagues from other countries was taken into account, countries where a zero-tolerance of corruption is practised at the corporate level.

The process of abiding by the policy is as follows: a special compliance officer tracks efforts to combat corruption at the internal corporate portal of the company and supports the functioning of the corruption risk management system from within. The compliance officer’s job description includes protecting all company employees against threats and risks. In their turn, staff must undergo special anti-corruption training.

Corruption and fraud may cause significant damage to the company’s reputation and result in a lot of internal conflicts as well as a deterioration of the corporate climate within the company. Therefore, whenever a contract with a customer or a partner is being entered into, ICL Services will always include a clause about the abidance by the applicable anti-corruption laws in Russia and the countries the customer or partner operates in so as to reduce the risks of corruption and minimize potential losses.

Besides, ICL Services interacts with its partners within the framework of the company’s active adherence to its anti-corruption policy. Thus, to create conditions conducive to fair competition in the IT services market, ICL Services conducts an annual analysis of prospective suppliers to verify that such partners display the required level of compliance with the conditions that are vital for productive cooperation.

Thus, by carrying out anti-corruption activities on a number of fronts, both within the company and when working with partners and contractors, ICL Services prevents conflicts of interest and ensures adherence with all Russian and foreign anti-corruption regulations at all times. Setting standard rules and regulations for all staff is key to transparent and fair communication at all levels of cooperation.