Bribery Act 2010

After years of consultation and debate, the Bribery Act 2010 came into force on 1 July 2011. The Act repeals all old offences relating to bribery and replaces them with four key crimes:

• Bribery
• Being Bribed
• Bribery of foreign public officials
• Failure by a company to prevent bribery on it’s behalf

It is important for businesses to understand what all of these crimes mean for their everyday operations to avoid any unanticipated violations.

The crime of failing to prevent bribery is especially significant for businesses since it can render a business (or even a person within the business) liable for the actions of an employee despite the business or responsible person having no knowledge of the actions whatsoever. Guilt is based on a failure to have adequate procedures in place to prevent bribery. It is therefore essential that businesses take legal advice quickly to ensure that their anti-bribery measures are ‘adequate’. If you’re concerned about compliance issues, get in touch with our regulatory compliance team.

Failure to operate adequate procedures could lead to a successful prosecution against the company or someone within it. This could be extremely serious, since there is no limit to the fine which can be imposed on the company or the individual. A maximum 10 year jail sentence is also available.