ACRC Set Out the Integrity & Ethics Compliance Program Guidelines

Strengthening ESG Management of Public Institutions and International Anti-Corruption Standards Response, and Examining Agency and Providing Education for Institutions Planned

(June 30th, 2022, ACRC)

The ACRC released the integrity & ethics compliance program guidelines on June 30 to meet the international anti-corruption standards, including ESG (Environment, Social, and Governance) Management of public institutions and foreign anti-corruption laws.

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC, Chairperson Jeon Hyun-Heui) distributed the Integrity & Ethics Compliance Program (K-CP) guidelines to public institutions in an effort to create a culture of integrity and ethics compliance program in which public institutions minimize corruption risks in management and comply with anti-corruption laws.

As ESG disclosure and investment have become important, and violation of foreign anti-corruption laws by Korean companies persists, the ACRC judged that proactive actions by public institutions against anti-corruption, the key element of ESG, are needed.

* Among International ESG disclosure standards, such as EU’s CSRD, the importance of “anti-corruption” is growing, and “anti-corruption” is among four pillars chosen by IPEF, launched in May.

In the meantime, the ACRC　has supported integrity and ethics compliance business in accordance with Article 3 (Support for Ethical Management of Private Enterprises) of THE ACT ON ANTI-CORRUPTION AND THE ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF THE ANTI-CORRUPTION & CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION, and since last year, has promoted the development of K-CP through the process of analysis of domestic and foreign s, gathering opinions from experts and stakeholders, and open forums.

K-CP focuses on letting public institutions, such as public companies, build integrity and ethical management system meeting the international anti-corruption standards and voluntarily prevent, detect, and mitigate corruption risks.

K-CP consists of five themes that are as follows: ▴environment development, ▴corruption risk mapping, ▴prevention and management of corruption risk, ▴monitoring and improvement, ▴restrictions and incentives

* Five themes comprehensively took account of anti-corruption guidelines of international organizations, such as OECD, TI, and UNGC, and major countries, including the US, the UK, and France, and Anti-corruption Laws and system in Korea.

The ACRC expects that if public institutions proactively follow K-CP, they could prevent pursuing personal interests by using undisclosed information obtained in the course of performing duties, accounting fraud, and lax management, and transparency of public institutions and public confidence would increase.

The ACRC plans to provide consultation and education to public institutions willing to adopt K-CP in an attempt to resolve difficulties in their management.

Moreover, the integrity & ethics compliance program guidelines for private companies will be developed by the end of this year, actively supporting the integrity and ethical management among private companies to improve CPI.

ACRC Chairperson Jeon Hyun-Heui said, “As Korea’s international standing has been elevated, public institutions need to take the lead in being committed to practice integrity and ethics compliance in accordance with ESG management and reinforced international anti-corruption standards.

She added that the ACRC would actively support the practice of integrity and ethics compliance so that it runs effectively on the spot.