The Bribery Act Policy UK, the broader rule to curb corruption

The Bribery Act Policy UK 2010 will finally come into force on 1 July 2011. The Act establishes strict corporate rule and liability offense to prevent bribery. The potential defense available for affected companies is to demonstrate that they had in place appropriate procedures to prevent bribery, by employees, agent or anybody working on their behalf.

The new strict liability offence can potentially hold any company punishable that does business in the UK if found to have indulged in any malpractices. UK companies should also understand that they are at risk while having operation worldwide and if they don’t have a system in place to check bribery by their representatives. As said the only defense for the company if found guilty is to establish that there are adequate procedures to prevent corruption in place.

It is likewise best to keep in mind that the Bribery Act is quite broad, and in several respects much broader than the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

UK Bribery Act 2010, the comprehensive anti-bribery code

The UK Bribery Act 2010 a bill against corruption which received Royal Assent on 8 April 2010. The Act shall come into force on 1 July 2011, thus replacing England's old and controversial laws on bribery with a complete new anti-bribery code.

There are four offenses: general paying and receiving bribes, bribery of foreign public officials and the failure on part of business house and organisations to curb corruption. Business offense is the most significant one in this law compared to the old law as the onus will be on the companies to ensure that their anti-corruption regulations are in place.

Under the Act the government is required to provide guidance on adequate procedures. The guideline was published in March 30, 2011 and will require procedures to customise them accordingly to individual situation of each company based on a risk assessment. Finally, it will be left to the courts to assess whether a company has "adequate procedures" in place and it will be for the company to prove they have stringent measures in place to check corruption. In view of this the court will assess where a bribe was actually paid; the burden can be very high and might need companies to keep themselves transparent with all their transaction.

Bribery Policy, 2010 and the impact on business

Bribery Act Policy, 2010 will be made necessary for small businesses to put in place new policy which could probably change the way they do business and manage their customer relationships in accordance to contracts. It was originally intended to come into force in April 2011, but that was postponed and the act will now take effect from 1 July 2011.

The UK Bribery Act will replace the existing Anti Corruption Law — which are purely decided by judiciary based on the outcome of cases. The Act outlines four offenses of bribery and introduces new ones, and at the same time makes it easier to prosecute offenders.

The UK Bribery Act will;

Introduce a business offense for failure to prevent corruption by persons working for a company. A company can escape conviction if it can demonstrate that they have adequate procedures in place to prevent corruption.

Under the Act it is a criminal offense to offer or to request, agree or accept a bribe either at home or abroad. The measures cover bribery of a foreign public official.

The Act invites maximum penalty for bribery with imprisonment up to 10 years or even unlimited fine.

Guidance has been published to help companies to apply procedures to prevent people working on your behalf from committing corruption, it also has a section to help business owners to understand the difference between hospitality and bribery, and avoid falling under the scope of the law.

The Bribery Act Guidance 2010 - organisations should put their act together

The UK Bribery Act 2010 has been waiting for some guidance from the United Kingdom about their new law on corruption as it received Royal Assent in April. The delay on the guidelines has tardy implementation of the Law on Corruption. Now the direction is out.

The UK Bribery Act 2010 under section 7 creates a new offense that deals with commercial organisations that fail to prevent persons associated with them to bribe another person on their behalf.

An organisation that can prove it has enough procedures in place to avert people who are associated with them from bribing will have a defence to the offence under section 7.

Bribery is bad and now there is a system is in place to prevent and detect them if they occur. Nestled in section 9, the UK Bribery Act 2010 was a necessity that led the Secretary of State to draft guidance about the procedures for commercial organisations to practice and prevent persons associated with them from bribing. Under Article 9 of the UK Bribery Act 2010, the only protection against criminal liability for a commercial organisation if they have failed to prove they had adequate procedures "to prevent corruption.