1. INTRODUCTION
Bribery is one of the most serious and difficult to manage issues that concerns modern business activity internationally. Businesses are increasingly aware of the need to address the risk of bribery and proceed to adopt appropriate measures to limit it.
IAMEX SA recognizing the importance of combating Bribery and the negative effect that any involvement in bribery could have on its image and reputation, has established and implements a Bribery Management System according to the ISO 37001:2016 Standard, including it in the Company's Unified Quality Management System.
As part of the implementation of the ISO 37001:2016 system, the company implements Compliance Policies and Procedures that must be applied by both the company's employees and partners.
The company's goal is to fight corruption at all levels.
The commission of the offense of bribery in the performance of duties entails civil and criminal liability in accordance with the applicable legislation, as well as the termination of the employment relationship with the Company.
2. PURPOSE & SCOPE
This Anti-Bribery Policy seeks to strengthen the commitment of the Management of IAMEX S.A. for zero tolerance to bribery, creating a framework of obligations and guidelines to be used as a tool to prevent, deter and fight bribery.
The Policy is binding for all IAMEX employees regardless of position and hierarchical level, including board members, all kinds of business partners and any other third party acting on behalf of the company.
3. CONCEPT OF BRIBE
Bribery is defined as the offer, promise, giving, request or acceptance of a financial or non-financial advantage or consideration of value if the purpose of the payment is to secure a person's misconduct/abuse of position.
Active bribery: someone who promises or provides an employee, directly or through a third party, unfair benefits of any nature, for an action or omission related to or contrary to his duties.
Passive bribery: an employee, who, in violation of his duties, requests or receives, directly or through the mediation of a third party, for himself or for a third party, unfair benefits of any kind, for an action or omission, which is related to his duties or contradicts them.
4. COMMITMENT OF THE ADMINISTRATION
The company's goal is to fight corruption at all levels. To achieve this goal, the company undertakes to implement the following:
IAMEX SA:
✓ Prohibits any form of bribery or its acceptance.
✓ Require all employees to comply with state or European Union bribery laws that apply to the company.
✓ Encourages the contribution of all employees in the recognition and suspicion of any possible bribery and prohibits the punishment or negative treatment of such employees.
✓ Commits to the implementation of measures and the provision of necessary resources in order to fight bribery.
✓ It sensitizes and properly trains its staff through continuous anti-bribery updates and trainings.
✓ It has established a specific Anti-Bribery Unit, which is independent from the rest of the staff, reports only to the CEO and has the obligation and authority to investigate every possible case of bribery and implement relevant measures to combat it.
✓ It continuously assesses the risk related to anti-bribery issues that may arise during its activities and through this assessment it prioritizes the risks and opportunities presented. ✓ In the event of bribery or non-compliance with the requirements of the anti-bribery system, sanctions are imposed and in case of violation of relevant legislative requirements, a report is made to the competent authorities.
✓ It is committed to the continuous improvement of the anti-bribery system it implements. To achieve the above objectives, the company reviews and updates this Anti-Bribery Policy when necessary.
5. ACCEPTERS OF BRIBE
This Policy concerns the contacts, relationships and transactions of all employees with the following legal or natural persons who could be recipients of bribes:
-Government Officials, i.e.: o Officials, employees or representatives of any government, o Persons acting on behalf of the government o Candidates for political office
-Public Officials (Employees in Government services, Members of committees, etc.)
-Health Professionals (Public and Private healthcare providers)-Third Parties-Suppliers
6. FORMS - RISKS OF BRIBERING
FACILITATION PAYMENTS
IAMEX expressly prohibits any payment of facilitation. Facilitation payments are those made with the purpose of inducing a person to perform a duty which he is obliged to perform and especially in cases where the monetary amount of this payment exceeds in value what is actually owed. Any type of facilitation payment is prohibited and illegal under applicable law.
EXPLOITATION OF INFLUENCE
Also known as "bartering" or "influence trading," influence peddling occurs when an official seeks to receive money in exchange for exercising influence to secure an unfair advantage or favor to the payer. The term is also used in cases where the person making the payment is the one requesting the officials to exercise their influence in return, in order to secure an unfair advantage or favor.
DONATIONS TO POLITICAL PARTIES, MOVEMENTS AND PERSONS
The offering of gifts, the provision of donations or any other financial support to political parties or their representatives, the offering of contributions or other facilities to candidates for public office or to political parties or other political organizations is not permitted.
DONATIONS TO CHARITIES, NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS
As part of social responsibility actions, the company may support charitable organizations. However, in all cases it should be ensured that contributions of a charitable and social nature will only be offered to recognized organizations and after relevant research and evaluation, without any expectation of obtaining a business advantage or other preferential treatment in return.
>> Detailed information is provided in the relevant Policy: 30.3 Grants-Donations-Grants Policy
SPONSORSHIPS TO SCIENTIFIC EVENTS
IAMEX SA in the context of its business activity and educational support of the scientific community, it can participate through sponsorships in events of scientific organizations and informative seminars of customers or third parties. However, the conditions and rules established by the Company Policy as well as by the codes of ethics of commercial associations of the medical technology sector (SEIB Code of Ethical Professional Practice and Code of Ethical Business Practice of MedTech Europe) should be strictly observed. In addition, sponsorships at scientific events must have been approved by the competent state authorities (EOF).
>> Detailed information is provided in the relevant Policy: 30.3 Grants-Donations-Grants Policy
GIFTS - HOSPITALITY - ENTERTAINMENT
IAMEX expressly prohibits giving or receiving gifts that are intended, or give the impression that they are intended, to create or maintain a commercial advantage. The above prohibition excludes gifts of low value, which fall within the framework of normal business practice (e.g. office supplies, diaries, etc.) and symbolic gifts of special occasions which are given exceptionally and are considered acceptable in the context of the company's business activity Company.
>> Detailed information is provided in the relevant Policies: 30.2 Transactions with Health Professionals Policy 30.3 Sponsorship Policy
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Conflicts of interest arise when an individual's interest interferes or appears to interfere with the interests of the company. A conflict of interest can develop into a bribery problem when an employee asks for, agrees to receive, or receives something of value that interferes with the employee's judgment in performing his or her role on behalf of the company.
>> Detailed information is provided in the relevant Policy: 30.6 Conflict of Interest Policy
THIRD PARTY BRIBEING
The Company may be held liable for acts of bribery of third parties performing work on its behalf. Before commencing cooperation and signing the relevant contract with any third party, and following the due diligence procedures, the Company must check, among other things, that the reputation, prestige and capabilities of the specific party are sufficient and satisfactory and that the cooperation with it may not endanger the Company. In any case, the third parties should be contractually bound to fight corruption and bribery and to act in accordance with the Company's operational principles and values.
>> Detailed information is provided in the relevant Policy: 30.5 Business Partner Control Policy
ILLEGAL HANDLING OF CONFIDENTIAL / PRIVILEGE INFORMATION
The use of inside information, or its disclosure to another, friendly or relative person or partner and in general to any person for the same financial benefit is strictly prohibited. This information includes e.g. business strategies, pricing/costing information, financial and technical offers, customer and supplier lists, financial data and forecasts, contract data, etc.
>> Detailed information is provided in the relevant Policy: 30.4 Information Handling Policy
7. VIOLATIONS AND PENALTIES
The Company has zero tolerance for any behavior that does not comply with this Policy, and any violation of this Policy is considered a very significant event, which constitutes a disciplinary offense that attracts sanctions. Disciplinary penalties are decided individually in each case, depending on the nature and seriousness of the offense based on the principle of proportionality, and all cases are managed in a coherent manner based on the principle of equality. Any disciplinary penalties are imposed without prejudice to the provisions of the applicable legislation.
8. FILES
Records of the above forms are kept by the YSDD for 5 years. Related Documents: 30.2 Transactions with Health Professionals Policy 30.3 Sponsorship Policy 30.4 Information Handling Policy 30.5 Business Partner Control Policy 30.6 Conflict of Interest Policy
9. HISTORY OF THE DOCUMENT
Ed. Date Description of Change Version From1 15/07/2024 Initial Version YSDD