Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy

Introduction

The board and staff members of FBDS are committed to a zero-tolerance policy on bribery and corruption in any form, recognising that bribery is contrary to fundamental values of integrity, transparency and accountability and undermines organisational effectiveness.

Oversight

The Board is responsible for overseeing the policy and bribery and corruption risks or incidents are a standing item on Board meeting agendas, to be dealt with at each Board meeting.

Definitions

FBDS understands corruption as an abuse of power and/or position for advantage. We recognise its serious negative effects on individuals and society as a whole and as such, are committed to combating it.

A bribe is understood by FBDS as the offering, promising, giving, accepting or soliciting of money, a gift or other advantage as an inducement to do something that is illegal or a breach of trust in the course of carrying out an organisation’s activities. This includes offers or gifts for friends and family as well as for the individual and includes “facilitation fees”.

Risk Assessment

Incidents of bribery and corruption include, among others, the following:

• Official processes, such as obtaining a visa, permit or registration document. Officials may request a “facilitation fee” or other informal payment. In particular, customs and immigration: officials may demand extra payments to allow a person to travel;
• Relationships with clients. Examples may include:
  • Requests by clients to participate in or lead on proposals in return for favours;
  • Requests by clients to intercede with third parties in return for favours;
  • Requests by clients to ignore evidence of bribery or corrupt practice in their work;
• Consultants and service delivery. Examples may include:
  • Requests for special consideration in choosing a consultant/service delivery provider;
  • Offers of favours for accepting inflated prices or other unfavourable contract options.

In all the above cases, FBDS staff members may face conflicts of interest. FBDS’s conflict of interest policy is attached here and all staff members should adhere to it.

Possible risks in relation to such incidents include:

General context: FBDS works around the world and as such our staff, consultants or part are encouraged to be vigilant of the risks of receiving or offering bribes or other corrupt practices. This can pose a threat to the organisations and the people who work for them directly, themselves, and also to FBDS, which has a responsibility to prevent bribery.

FBDS’s own procedures: In addition to its relationships with various clients, areas in which FBDS could be vulnerable include recruitment, procurement, transactions with the authorities and the development of work in a new region or country where we are less familiar with the context. These are addressed in existing policies, but attention must be paid in risk reviews that the procedures are up to date, appropriate and put in practice.

Consequences for FBDS: The organisation could be subject to prosecution under Brazil law if it does not ensure that it acts against corruption cases. There could also be serious impacts on FBDS’s reputation if it is perceived as accepting, condoning or turning a blind eye to corruption. Details on risks are included in FBDS’s risk register and kept up to date by the FBDS’s management team. The Board should review the risk register at each meeting.

Procedures

FBDS has the following instruments in place to reduce the risk of corruption occurring:

1. Protection of staff members against corruption risks:
   • Ensuring that all staff members are fully informed about the anti-bribery and corruption policy and procedures as well as the conflict of interest policy and are able to put them into practice.
   • Providing regular learning sessions to support staff in responding to corruption incidents and developing appropriate strategies to deal with particular situations as they arise.
   • Ensuring that all staff members, when on FBDS business, have papers and permissions in order and carry a document stating FBDS’s zero tolerance stance Ensuring that all clients and contractors are fully informed about FBDS’s zero tolerance of corruption.
   • Ensure that all clients and contractors are fully informed about FBDS’s zero-tolerance policy on corruption.
2. Due diligence

   FBDS undertakes to carry out a bribery and corruption risk assessment when it enters a contracting relationship with another entity and a due diligence assessment against that risk, including verifying whether the entity has and puts into practice its own anti-bribery policies. This will be repeated at periodic intervals.

3. Dealing with corruption incidents
   The procedures in dealing with incidents of corruption are as follows:
   1. If a staff member encounters a direct or implicit request for a bribe or favour or an offer of a bribe or favour:
      • Say “no”: In all cases, except if a person’s health or security are at risk, the response to any attempt at bribery or corruption should be to refuse and to reiterate FBDS’s policy of zero tolerance.
      • Internal report: Any bribery incident needs to be reported internally. Incidents should be reported to your line manager and, if it is serious, to the team as a whole. (Serious incidents are those in which the person attempting corruption does not accept the “no” immediately, when someone’s health or security is put at risk, or when attempts to corrupt occur more than once by the same individual or institution). All incidents should be recorded on the relevant page in the risk register.
      • Investigation: Any serious case of corruption should be investigated. This applies when a staff member has been at risk and so has had to comply with a demand or when a staff member has managed to resist a demand but has suffered delay, disruption, abuse or inconvenience as a result. It also applies when one or more staff members report incidents with the same individual or institution, i.e. when it appears that there is a pattern of corrupt practice occurring.

        The investigation should involve the line manager and at least one other member of the FBDS team, who will interview the person or people concerned within a maximum of two weeks of the incident being reported and support them to analyse the incident. The team produces a short written report that is then immediately shared with the Board. The report must include analysis of how and why the incident occurred and make recommendations as to how procedures can be strengthened so that a staff member is not put in that situation again. The investigation interview should also include a check on the staff member’s welfare and identification of their support needs around any trauma or distress resulting from the incident.

        If the investigation team has the impression that the staff member was willingly complicit with the corruption incident, then the procedures outlined in 3.3 below will apply.

      • Inform others: Information about incidents in which a staff member has been threatened or at risk or when there appears to be an institutionalised pattern of corruption should be shared with other actors: clients, donors, partners and other collaborating organisations and individuals. As much information as is compatible with the continued safety of the staff member and of other parties affected by but not complicit in the corruption that might be at risk should be divulged so that others can also take action in response.

        Whenever it is possible without endangering staff members or clients, FBDS should also report the incident to the relevant authorities in order to enter the incident on the official record and to stimulate action against corruption. FBDS recognises that this is not always possible: the authorities can sometimes be complicit in the corruption themselves. Options such as whistleblowing hotlines should be explored as reporting mechanisms if this is the case.

   2. If a staff member identifies corrupt practice on the part of a client, contractor or other party with whom FBDS is associated

      This may include evidence or suspicion of a range of issues that could include, among others, financial mismanagement, trafficking influence, bribery and nepotism. If a staff member has identified such practice in a client, contractor or other organisation, they should immediately report it to their line manager and the rest of the team. FBDS should then investigate the reported incident, with a view to confirming whether corruption has taken place and if so, what the circumstances were.

      If the investigation identifies that corruption has taken place, a short report should be written and recorded on the risk register. Following identification of an incident, FBDS must take action. The exact response will depend on the particular circumstances and the severity of the case, but it could include:

      • Confronting them directly with the incident and, if they acknowledge it, discussing with them how to avoid such incidents in the future. (This is only appropriate for one-off incidents in exceptional circumstances).
      • If it is an individual, reporting them to their line manager or senior management in their organization.
      • Supporting the organisation to come up with appropriate procedures and responses to prevent such an incident happening again.
      • Ending collaboration or support agreements with the organisation concerned.
      • In the most serious cases, reporting the incident to the authorities or relevant institutions. Context must be borne in mind when exploring this option: it could expose the person, organisation and people associated with them to extremely serious consequences.
      • In the most serious cases, reporting the incident to other organisations or individuals that work with the individual/organisation, to warn them of the risks.
      • If the incident includes the complicity of a Brazilian organisation or an international organisation engaged in any commercial activity in Brazil, FBDS should also report it to the competent authority, unless to do so would expose someone to serious threats to their health or security. If the latter is the case, FBDS should ensure that it has documented the incident and has explored all possible avenues to report and tackle the incident.
   3. If a staff member identifies corrupt practices on the part of a colleague

      This may include evidence or suspicion of a range of issues that could include, among others, financial mismanagement, trafficking influence, bribery and nepotism. If a staff member has identified such practice in a colleague, they should immediately report it in confidence to their line manager or to a Board member. FBDS should then immediately investigate the reported incident, with a view to confirming whether corruption has taken place and if so, what the circumstances were.

      If the investigating team identify that corruption has taken place, immediate action must follow, using the appropriate disciplinary procedures. The consequences for the staff member, depending on the severity of the incident and the circumstances, could range from suspension to dismissal to criminal prosecution. Records of the incident and the responses will be kept in FBDS’s confidential personnel records.

      If the incident concerns senior management or the board, the staff member may also choose to report it to an external competent authority.

Dissemination and communication

FBDS’s zero tolerance statement should be cited into contracts, memoranda of understanding and other contractual arrangements.

FBDS will support its collaborators and partners (if feasible and realistic) to look at their own anti-corruption practice and to develop their own appropriate responses to incidents of bribery and corruption.

Monitoring and evaluation

All reported incidents are included in the risk register document. The risk register and corruption incidents are frequent features of management team meeting agendas.

The Board reviews the risk register at regular intervals and reviews responses when relevant. Once a year, the President of the Board of Trustees reviews all corruption incidents that occurred during the year and reports on these to the Board. If patterns emerge that demonstrate that risks need to be re-evaluated, this is done so.

Collective action

FBDS commits to sharing information on bribery and corruption with other organisations with a view to combating it wherever it occurs.