Last week (8 April 2010), marked a tough new era for corporate Britain, following the new bribery laws been granted by the Royal Assent.
If a bribe by or on behalf of an organisation, the company in question will have to demonstrate that they have ‘adequate procedures’ in place to prevent such corruption. If they don’t they could be hit by unlimited fines and see workers behind bars.
Guidance on these procedures is likely to be issued by the Ministry of Justice in June or July but will not be prescriptive. The guidance is likely to cover anti-bribery policies, training of staff, corporate entertainment and gifts, and better due diligence on agents and business partners.
It is looking likely that the Act will come into force on 1st October giving companies a chance (although short) to review their current procedures, to avoid falling foul of the new law.
The Bribery Act introduces a general offence of offering or receiving bribes, a specific offence of bribing a foreign public official, and a corporate offence of failing to prevent bribery. According to recent research by Eversheds, which canvassed the views of almost 700 executives, 60% of businesses are unaware of the corporate offence of failing to prevent bribery and one in four board directors don’t know that they could face prosecution.
