The Development Bank of Mongolia (DBM) inked a memorandum of cooperation with ISO Mongolia LLC on December 5 to implement the MNS ISO 37001:2017 anti-bribery management system. Deputy Director of DBM Ch.Enkhbat and ISO Mongolia LLC’s Managing Director G.Oyungerel signed the memorandum. The ISO 37001 is a management system developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). More specifically, it is an anti-bribery management system that includes measures designed to help organizations prevent, detect and address bribery. These include adopting an anti-bribery policy, appointing a person to oversee anti-bribery compliance, training, risk assessments and due diligence on projects and business associates, implementing financial and commercial controls, and instituting reporting and investigation procedures. “Bribery is one of the world’s most destructive and challenging issues. With over one trillion USD paid in bribes each year, the consequences are catastrophic, reducing quality of life, increasing poverty and eroding public trust,” according to ISO. “Yet despite efforts on national and international levels to tackle bribery, it remains a significant issue. Recognizing this, ISO has developed a new standard to help organizations fight bribery and promote an ethical business culture,” ISO said when the new ISO 37001 was launched in 2016. According to ISO, the new standard can be employed in any organization, small or large, private or public. It has been marketed to be a flexible tool, which can be adapted according to the size and nature of the organization and the bribery risk it faces. With the introduction of the new ISO standard, DBM becomes the first organization in Mongolia to implement the standard. The bank’s officials believe that the standard will decrease risk of corruption, contribute in improving Mongolia’s corruption index, and act as an advantage moving forward. ISO Mongolia is a company specialized in assisting and consulting in the implementation of various international standards from ISO. The Mongolian Agency for Standardization and Metrology modified the ISO 37001 standard for implementation in Mongolia and ultimately approved the MNS ISO 37001:2017 on February 23. DBM stressed how important improving the workplace culture is in combating corruption. Microsoft has publically announced that they will be adopting the ISO 37001 standard and Singapore and Peru have already approved of the implementation of the standard. In addition, the DBM reported that it had begun to receive loan requests electronically. According to DBM officials, this opens up a new page in Mongolia’s financial market. The bank has said that an electronic system to receive loan requests will improve both the quality and speed of service. Organizations and businesses that want to take out a loan from the DBM will be able to submit their requests from anywhere at anytime, helping to improve the reach of loans. Most of the commercial banks in Mongolia use the Grape system for accounting. Now, Grape City, a software house majoring in banking has begun to offer the NES program. This software is being implemented at some of the major commercial banks. The DBM reported that it is also adopting the NES software and more specifically the “Loan Request, Research LOS system”. Through this program, loan requests will be processed without human involvement. The program will allow the submitter to keep track of the completion of their documents required for a loan request. It will also allow the DBM administration to keep track off how many loan request have been made to the company and the progress of their evaluation. A database of loan requests will be aggregated, in which bank administration can easily access loan requests. In simple terms, the program will receive all loan requests and make a decision on them. This will help eliminate any issues regarding potential conflict of interest or corruption and ultimately help improve the public’s trust in the DBM, believe DBM officials. In addition, moving forward, the company will have a registry to keep track of all its documents.