Integrity in the operations of the Central Bank of BiH (CBBH) in the fight against corruption was the topic of today’s meeting with journalists at the CBBH in Sarajevo, during which compliance officer Sanja Romić-Bajramović presented the role and importance of the compliance function.
As she pointed out, it is about the practical need for an institution of state importance to pay more attention to business with integrity, and business ethics, because any irregularity in work represents a reputational risk, which consequently affects the trust of the public and citizens in the work of the CBBH.
Romić-Bajramović emphasized that the establishment of a compliance program is a continuous process and that compliance is mostly based on risk assessment, which must be regularly updated.
“Depending on the risk assessment, certain activities are undertaken in some business processes. From the point of view of the Central Bank, those that are the most exposed to that risk, are the processes of employment and the implementation of public procurement. This is what is currently the focus of the compliance function,” Romić-Bajramović added.
She reminded that this function was established in 2020, when the construction of the compliance program began, adding that there is still a lot of work to be done, but that with what they have done so far, they can stand out compared to some other public institutions.
The new rulebook, in addition to the possibility of reporting corruption, also provides for the possibility of reporting any other irregularities observed in the work of the CBBH. The most significant activity is certainly the introduction of the anti-corruption tool Ethics Line, which ranks the CBBH among the few public institutions that have implemented that system. It is an externally protected online system that offers the possibility of anonymous reporting on the existence of corruption and other irregularities.
