ISO/TC 309 - Governance of organizations

This document specifies the competence requirements for personnel involved in the audit and certification process for compliance management systems (CMS). It complements the existing requirements of ISO/IEC 17021‑1.

This document gives guidance on the governance of organizations. It provides principles and key aspects of practices to guide governing bodies and governing groups on how to meet their responsibilities so that the organizations they govern can fulfil their purpose. It is also intended for stakeholders involved in, or impacted by, the organization and its governance. It is applicable to all organizations regardless of type, size, location, structure or purpose.

This document gives guidelines for establishing, implementing and maintaining an effective whistleblowing management system based on the principles of trust, impartiality and protection in the following four steps: a) receiving reports of wrongdoing; b) assessing reports of wrongdoing; c) addressing reports of wrongdoing; d) concluding whistleblowing cases. The guidelines of this document are generic and intended to be applicable to all organizations, regardless of type, size, nature of activity, and whether in the public, private or not-for profit sectors. The extent of application of these guidelines depends on the factors specified in 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3. The whistleblowing management system can be stand-alone or can be used as part of an overall management system.

This document specifies requirements and provides guidelines for establishing, developing, implementing, evaluating, maintaining and improving an effective compliance management system within an organization. This document is applicable to all types of organizations regardless of the type, size and nature of the activity, as well as whether the organization is from the public, private or non-profit sector. All requirements specified in this document that refer to a governing body apply to top management in cases where an organization does not have a governing body as a separate function.

ISO 37001:2016 specifies requirements and provides guidance for establishing, implementing, maintaining, reviewing and improving an anti-bribery management system. The system can be stand-alone or can be integrated into an overall management system. ISO 37001:2016 addresses the following in relation to the organization's activities: · bribery in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors; · bribery by the organization; · bribery by the organization's personnel acting on the organization's behalf or for its benefit; · bribery by the organization's business associates acting on the organization's behalf or for its benefit; · bribery of the organization; · bribery of the organization's personnel in relation to the organization's activities; · bribery of the organization's business associates in relation to the organization's activities; · direct and indirect bribery (e.g. a bribe offered or accepted through or by a third party). ISO 37001:2016 is applicable only to bribery. It sets out requirements and provides guidance for a management system designed to help an organization to prevent, detect and respond to bribery and comply with anti-bribery laws and voluntary commitments applicable to its activities. ISO 37001:2016 does not specifically address fraud, cartels and other anti-trust/competition offences, money-laundering or other activities related to corrupt practices, although an organization can choose to extend the scope of the management system to include such activities. The requirements of ISO 37001:2016 are generic and are intended to be applicable to all organizations (or parts of an organization), regardless of type, size and nature of activity, and whether in the public, private or not-for-profit sectors. The extent of application of these requirements depends on the factors specified in 4.1, 4.2 and 4.5.

ISO 19600:2014 provides guidance for establishing, developing, implementing, evaluating, maintaining and improving an effective and responsive compliance management system within an organization. The guidelines on compliance management systems are applicable to all types of organizations. The extent of the application of these guidelines depends on the size, structure, nature and complexity of the organization. ISO 19600:2014 is based on the principles of good governance, proportionality, transparency and sustainability.