A lot of our clients have been asking us about what the Bribery Act means for their business and how we can help them to comply with the new law.
What Are The Main Features Of The Act?
The new law will be one of the toughest in the world. It makes it an offence to give or receive a bribe; there is a specific offence of bribing a foreign public official; commercial/private bribery is criminalised; a new strict liability corporate offence of failing to prevent bribery is introduced; senior officers who participate in or turn a blind eye to bribery can be personally liable; there is no exemption for facilitation payments; and it has a broad extraterritorial reach which covers companies and individuals.
What Are The Penalties?
The penalties can be severe: the maximum penalty for individuals will be 10 years imprisonment and/or a fine; and the maximum penalty for a corporate will be an unlimited fine. There can also be damaging collateral consequences such as director disqualifications, company debarment from public contracts and asset confiscation proceedings.
What Does "Adequate Procedures" Mean?
The only defence available to commercial organisations charged with the corporate offence will be for the organisation to show that it had in place "adequate procedures" to prevent an act of bribery being committed in connection with its business. This phrase is not defined in the Bribery Act and further government guidance is expected shortly. But it is widely acknowledged that compliance procedures will be subject to intense scrutiny and all companies must start thinking about their policies, systems, controls and training programmes immediately.
What Do Companies Need To Do Now?
If companies are to avoid falling foul of the new law they will have to develop compliance procedures appropriate to their own circumstances and business sectors, taking into account their size, their area of operations and the particular risks to which they might be exposed. They need to be able to show that they take anticorruption measures seriously and have in place: clear policies and procedures; training programmes; robust internal financial controls and record-keeping; and whistle blowing procedures.
How Can DLA Piper's Corporate Crime And Investigations Team Help?
We have 35 criminal defence lawyers in the UK and can offer clients a valuable insight into how regulators approach and conduct their investigations. With compliance development programmes such as proTECT we are well equipped to advise our clients on due diligence and other anti-corruption issues to help them manage their risk in these challenging times.
We also have global anti-corruption expertise. If you need specialist advice in relation to your position in other jurisdictions we can help you identify the right person in our international practice.
