S-HERTOGENBOSCH, Netherlands, and NEW YORK, July 9, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BWise, a NASDAQ OMX company and the global leader in Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) management software, announced today a new solution for compliance with the UK Bribery Act and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). With the acts enforcing a strong punishment of ten years imprisonment and unlimited fines for non-compliance, organizations need to take a more proactive approach to bribery and corruption. BWise offers a unique FCPA and Bribery Act compliance solution that integrates with other enterprise GRC initiatives, such as, risk, compliance and internal audit. All based on the same risk taxonomy and language and improving company-wide compliance and transparency which are of utmost concern to executives.
FCPA and the UK Bribery Act are far-reaching regulations. An organization must not only focus on the fraudulent parties, but also must maintain its ethical (international) standards. Fines and reputational damage can be especially high for companies, individuals and executives. Both acts have a categorical effect on the business landscape and are vital instruments to battle and prevent bribery. There is little empathy to bribes and corruption in general, making non-compliance by companies a serious risk.
A corporate-wide ethics policy that describes the way to do business properly may not be enough. Everyone in an enterprise must recognize policies related to anti-bribery, code of conduct, and proper ways of doing business. Policy management, policy attestation, compliance assessments and management of issues are components an enterprise needs to address to reduce non-compliance risks in their battle to prevent bribery. The most efficient and effective method to comply with the acts is to take an integrated approach, using an integrated Governance, Risk Management and Compliance (GRC) platform solution to embed this into organizations.
Robert Pijselman, CEO of BWise, said, "Due to the prevalence of bribery and corruption, a risk-based approach to compliance has never been more required. Using risk-based thinking, an enterprise can determine where best to focus its efforts. BWise has found that there is a necessity for an integrated approach to the UK Bribery Act and FCPA. The BWise® GRC Platform serves these requirements for companies with a best-in-class method to address corruption and bribery, and achieve company-wide compliance and transparency."
BWise has issued a pragmatic and practical whitepaper on FCPA and the UK Bribery Act that offers real advice, such as, what are the practical actions you can take to comply with these regulations, how can you prevent high costs and how can technology help?
For more information and to request a copy of the whitepaper, please visit www.bwise.com.
About BWise
BWise, a NASDAQ OMX company, is the global leader in Enterprise Governance, Risk Management and Compliance (GRC) software. Based on a strong heritage in business process management, BWise delivers a truly integrated and proven GRC platform.
With this platform, BWise supports an organization's ability to track, measure, and manage key organizational risks in one integrated system. By doing so, BWise helps customers to truly be in control by sustainably balancing their performance and financial and reputational risks. BWise enables customers to increase corporate accountability; strengthen financial, strategic and operational efficiencies, maximize performance, and better understand risks. Using BWise, organizations are able to comply with regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley, ISAE3402/SAS-70, PCI, Solvency II, Basel II and III, Dodd-Frank, ISO-standards, European Corporate Governance Codes and many more.
BWise provides for the GRC needs of hundreds of customers worldwide, across all industries. Customers include adidas, AEGON, Ahold, AngloGold Ashanti, Connexxion, Health Alliance Plan (HAP) of Michigan, LeapFrog, Liebherr, Marathon Oil, Southern Company, Swiss Life, and Transcontinental. BWise has offices in the Netherlands, United States, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.bwise.com.
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