Corruption cases in Singapore at record low in 2016

CPIB said it had received 808 complaints, down from 877 in 2015. Of these, 118 cases or 14.6 per cent of the complaints lodged last year were registered for investigation – the lowest in 32 years.
CPIB disclosed the figures yesterday at the launch, jointly by the agency and Spring Singapore, of an anti-bribery ISO standard to help local firms expand overseas.
Private sector cases continued to make up most of the corruption cases in Singapore at 85 per cent of all cases registered for investigation last year. This was a 4-percentage-point decrease from 2015.
Public sector corruption cases remained low last year at 15 per cent. This was up from 11 per cent in 2015, but CPIB noted that due to the small numbers, the 4-percentage-point increase “is not significant”. 
Spring and CPIB said one way to help businesses enhance anti-bribery controls is to have an effective compliance programme such as the new Singapore Standard ISO 37001, which will help firms that are looking to internationalise to manage corruption risk.
“The voluntary standard that is based on internationally-recognised good practices provides guidelines to help Singapore companies strengthen their anti-bribery compliance systems and processes and ensure compliance with anti-bribery laws,” the two agencies said in a statement. 
“With the operating environment becoming more complex, and corruption cases more transnational in nature, adopting the new SS ISO 37001 standard will help Singapore companies safeguard against bribery,” said Wong Hong Kuan, CPIB director and convenor of a working group under the Singapore Standards Council for anti-bribery management systems.
The Singapore standard is a national adoption of ISO 37001 that was developed by an International Organisation for Standardisation committee comprising representatives from 61 countries. 
Singapore was represented by the working group on anti-bribery management systems led by the CPIB and comprised 11 representatives from business, trade associations and chambers, academia and government bodies. 
By adopting the standard, firms will gain an “additional stamp of confidence” in their systems and processes to help them grow overseas, Spring said. 
The standard includes a series of measures that organisations must implement, which represent globally recognised anti-bribery good practices. 
It specifies requirements including top management commitment, anti-bribery policy and training for staff, project risk assessments, financial and contractual controls, and oversight by a compliance manager. 
“Spring will be working with public and private stakeholders to provide assistance in terms of training, consulting, certification and funding,” said Choy Sauw Kook, assistant chief executive for quality and excellence at Spring Singapore. 
Spring and the Singapore Accreditation Council will be working with stakeholders to develop an accreditation scheme for bodies providing SS ISO 37001 certification services by the end of this year.