Firms Face Tougher Penalties Under New Bribery Act
Published May 2010
An international crackdown on bribery means UK firms may face tougher penalties for failing to prevent corruption in future – even if that corruption was carried out by a third party.
The Bribery Act – which was passed just before parliament shut down for the election – gave British prosecutors the power to pursue companies which have failed to take ‘adequate procedures’ to prevent bribery.
The bill had cross-party support and was introduced in line with a push by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to criminalise the act of bribing a foreign public official in countries around the world.
However, with the law remaining vague on what procedures need to be introduced, there are fears that companies will be subject to prosecution for failing to prevent bribery taking place on deals which they are involved in, even if the actual bribe was paid by someone else.
For example, a British firm which works abroad using an agent who pays a bribe without the firm knowing, may still be held responsible if they did not have procedures in place to prevent corruption.
Guidance notes are set to be published later this year, but reasonable measures could include measures to raise awareness within the company and providing training for staff.
