The Government have announced in Guidance published on 30 March
2011 that the Bribery Act 2010 ("the Act") will come into force on
1 July 2011.
There are four main offences under the Act:-
1 offering, promising or giving a bribe;
2 requesting, agreeing to receive or accepting a bribe;
3 bribing a foreign public official; and
4 failure by a commercial organisation to prevent bribery by a
person acting on its behalf.
The Act applies not only to companies operating in the UK, but
also to overseas companies with business operations in the UK.
Penalties for committing an offence under the Act include a
maximum of 10 years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.
The offence of 'failing to prevent bribery' will inevitably
cause concern, particularly for international companies. However,
the Act provides a defence if companies can show that it had
"adequate procedures" in place to prevent an act of bribery being
committed. "Adequate procedures" are not defined in the Act.
The Guidance suggests that there are six principles which
organisations should consider, in determining what procedures are
required to be adopted in order to prevent bribery:-
1 Proportionality - The action taken should be
proportionate to the size of the organisation and the potential
risks it faces;
2 Top level commitment - Bribery prevention procedures should
be adopted at the highest level of the organisation;
3 Risk assessment - Organisations should assess the nature and
extent of their exposure to potential external and internal risks
of bribery;
4 Due diligence - Due diligence procedures and checks should
be carried out in areas of the business where persons perform
services for or on behalf of the organisation;
5 Communication and training - To ensure that bribery
prevention policies and procedures are properly understood,
organisations should educate staff through internal and external
communication, including training; and
6 Monitoring and Review - The risks organisations face and the
effectiveness of their procedures may change over time. Therefore,
continuous training, monitoring and updating of procedures will be
required.
Should you require any further information on this topic, or any
other employment issue, please do not hesitate to contact one of
our team.