Corporate Responsibility

Our ethical commitment

Control Risks expresses our commitment to high standards of ethics through our Code of Ethics as well as our Anti-Corruption and Anti-Bribery Policy and our Human Rights Policy. If any Control Risks employee has concerns about any aspect of the way that we implement these policies, we encourage them to speak to their managers or to refer to our Whistleblowing Hotline. Similarly, we are always ready to listen to anyone outside the company who wishes to raise a concern, make a complaint, or express a grievance relating to our ethical conduct.  

What you need to do

If you wish to raise a concern about Control Risks or its subcontractors, you should either contact one of our employees directly or send an e-mail to [email protected]. 

Please give as much information as possible of the circumstances and the reasons why you believe Control Risks to be at fault. 

We encourage you to share your name and contact details because this makes it much easier to respond. If you feel uncomfortable sharing your name, we will respect your wish to remain anonymous. If possible, we will set up an alternative line of communication, for example through an anonymous e-mail account. 

Our response

We will respond to your communication promptly, and in any case within five working days.  Our first steps will be to make an initial evaluation of your concern and then to appoint a Control Risks point of contact. If we can resolve the matter quickly, we will do so. If we need time to conduct an investigation, our point of contact will offer progress updates and report on the outcome. 

We will respect your confidentiality as far as possible and subject to the requirements of the law. However, if it emerges that a criminal act may have taken place, we may need to report the matter to the appropriate government authorities. We will give our full support to any subsequent government investigation and, in those circumstances, we may be required to share details of any correspondence with you. 

Our policy

Control Risks will provide full details of our formal internal policy on responding to external concerns and complaints on request. 

Control Risks has participated in the UN Global Compact since 2007. This is a strategic policy initiative for businesses that are committed to aligning their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.

To demonstrate our on-going commitment and development in these areas, we annually submit a Communication on Progress with particular focus on respecting human rights and countering corruption.

Control Risks has been central to the development and adoption of security industry standards and codes of practice which include a focus on human rights. The company contributed to the Swiss government-led development of the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Providers (ICoC).

As evidence of our commitment to these standards and to the work of these organisations, we attach our Iraq Operations - Statement of Conformance to principles which support ethical and compliant business practices. In addition, Control Risks' Iraq operations is accredited to ISO9001:2015, ISO18788:2015, PSC1:2012 and ISO45001:2018 which provides a framework for establishing, maintaining and improving the management of security operations.

We have stringent processes relating to subcontractors and suppliers and use an independent provider for our whistleblowing channel, in line with Transparency International’s guidance.

Control Risks is committed to the highest corporate governance standards. We have governance, policies and structures to ensure we are managed with a high degree of accountability and transparency. Our board includes non-executive directors and has long-established nominations, remuneration, audit and ethics committees that fulfil roles equivalent to those of companies listed on the public markets.

Control Risks is a private company, independent of any third party or controlling interests. The company is held through an employee ownership trust, ensuring no one person is in a position to exercise any influence or control over its strategic or operational decisions. These are reserved entirely to the board and senior executive team. Independence provides the platform from which to offer unbiased and objective advice that serves our clients’ best interests.

Control Risks adheres strictly to a fully embedded Code of Ethics which summarises the principles that we live by and is overseen by an Ethics Committee. Additional guidelines for our employees include our Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption policy and our Human Rights policy.

As part of our commitment to the highest governance and ethics standards, we recognise the importance of providing a channel for third parties to raise their concerns about any aspect of our work. We encourage third parties to contact our Ethics Committee to discuss any grievance. Further information is available which sets out how we will handle a third party’s grievance.