Draft guidelines, drawn up by the Minister of Justice and reported on by the Guardian, suggest that the Government intends to water down the Bribery Act by ensuring that foreign companies which are listed on the London stock market but have no other UK presence will not be liable for prosecution under bribery prevention legislation.
The UK pledged to introduce the Bribery Act 13 years ago when the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) anti-bribery convention was ratified. The Act itself was passed by Parliament in the last days of the former Labour government.
Last month, Justice Minister Ken Clarke attempted to assuage fears amongst US politicians by promising that the Act would not be weakened, but these last-minute changes may be published as early as next week.
In its current form, the Act makes it clear that the offence of failing to prevent bribery should be applicable to any employer which carries out all or part of its business in the UK.
However, the new guidelines state: "The Government would not expect, for example, the fact that the company's securities have been admitted to the UK listing authority's official list, and therefore admitted to trading on the London stock exchange, in itself to qualify that the company is carrying out a business in the UK [...] for the purposes of the Act."
Although this move may lead to criticism, it may please many in the City who worry that compliance with bribery prevention standards could make the UK's capital markets seem less appealing to overseas companies.
Technorati Tags: Bribery Act, Government
Tags: Employment Law
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