The first step in effective supply chain due diligence - recommended by many advisory bodies, including the United Nations, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the International Labour Organization - the risk assessment helps companies understand their high risk areas (including those related to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues) and where best to focus their efforts.

The Themis risk assessment helps businesses stay on the right side of recent and upcoming related regulation and legislation, including: the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, the EU import ban on goods produced with forced labour, the UK Modern Slavery Act’s Transparency in Supply Chains Provision, the US Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) SYSC-8 Rules for general outsourcing requirements, among many others.

Themis’ supply chain risk assessment helps businesses to visualise invisible threats and understand the specific financial crime threats their business is exposed to. It helps organisations identify regulatory issues and financial crime issues in their supply chain, and meet their legal and regulatory requirements for outsourcing arrangements. It also allows companies to monitor changes or set a benchmark for continuous improvement; generate reports to enable management to make informed decisions and work with their suppliers to improve their compliance and reduce their risk exposure.

Organisations are ultimately responsible for ensuring the full length, depth and breadth of their supply chain is really scrutinised. By undertaking thorough supply chain risk assessment and due diligence, and publicly reporting on related risks and mitigating actions, companies can demonstrate their commitment to responsible and sustainable sourcing to stakeholders and make themselves more attractive as a business prospect. They also have the opportunity to exercise their own consumer power to enact a change in supplier attitudes and practices, raising global standards.

Dickon Johnstone, CEO of Themis, said “In a globalised society where the majority of companies and consumers are connected to an international supply chain, organisations run a far greater risk of exposure to financial crime. With each new layer of sub-contraction, profit margins tighten and the incentive and scope for fraud, corruption and corner-cutting increases. Our supply chain risk assessment is a great tool for companies trying to understand the breadth and depth of their supply chains - and the risks they pose - in a coherent way.”

Zia Zaidi, Product Manager at Themis, said “Themis Risk Management software provides comprehensive financial crime risk assessment capabilities. It helps you identify and assess the specific financial crime threats your business is exposed to, the relative strengths and weaknesses in both your firm’s anti-financial crime (AFC) governance, systems and controls and that of your suppliers and 3rd parties. It gives you a good insight on how you compare against local regulatory requirements and international best practices. It provides you an in depth visibility of financial crime practices conducted by your suppliers and the tool can also be used at an early stage of the procurement process in order to short-list the suppliers on the basis of their ethical practices in line with financial crime regulations.”