July 2010
Anti-corruption non-governmental organisation (NGO), Transparency International UK, supported by Halcrow and FTI Consulting Inc has published detailed guidance to help companies meet the challenges of complying with the UK Bribery Act 2010. The Bribery Act marks an historic step change in the UK’s fight against corporate bribery, most of whose victims are the poorest people in the poorest countries.
Neil Holt, Halcrow’s director responsible for corporate responsibility and corporate ethics comments, “The guidance, which includes case studies, sample policies and a step-by-step implementation checklist, is intended to provide comprehensive guidance for companies seeking to comply with the Bribery Act and maintain good practice anti-corruption procedures.”
The guidance is based on the well-established Business Principles for Countering Bribery and other Transparency International tools that companies all over the world are already using to benchmark their anti-bribery systems.
Companies following the guidance will, in the view of Transparency International, have implemented ‘adequate procedures’ for compliance with the Bribery Act.
About the Bribery Act 2010
The Bribery Act introduces an offence of corporate failure to prevent bribery, unless a company can prove that it had ‘adequate procedures’ in place to prevent bribery. The Secretary of State for Justice is required, by section 9 of the Bribery Act, to provide official guidance on ‘adequate procedures’. The corporate offence of failing to prevent bribery can only come into force after the government’s guidance has been issued. It was originally envisaged that the official guidance would be issued on 1 July 2010, but the Government has recently announced a revised publication date of early 2011, and that the Bribery Act will come into force in April 2011.
If companies get it wrong, the new law means both companies and directors face potentially disastrous financial and reputational consequences. Unlimited fines will be imposed on companies and prison sentences of up to ten years for directors.