Overview

The Bribery Act 2010 sweeps away the multiplicity of statutory and common law offences, and replaces them with a set of four, seemingly, straightforward offences.

The modernisation of the law, however, could have alarming consequences for corporates with a presence in the UK due to the legislator’s failure to clarify key areas of the Act.

TThe areas UK corporates should be aware of:

- The extra territorial scope of the Act;
- The liability of senior officers;
- The corporate liability offence;
- The illegality of facilitation payments;
- The illegitimacy of payments to foreign public officials; and
- The potential of debarment from public procurement contracts.

UK corporates should, as a matter of urgency, carry out a full anti-bribery and corruption risk assessment. The risk assessment should:

- Ascertain the corruption risks faced by their businesses;
- Determine and clarify the status of relationships with third parties: UK corporates could be responsible for the third parties’ failings; and
- Review the appropriateness and effectiveness of all internal policies, procedures, and training.

The recent enactment of the Bribery Act 2010 has, together with a series of recent headline-grabbing actions taken by the UK regulatory authorities, been hailed as the beginning of a clear and aggressive attack by the UK on misconduct.

This briefing looks at what the Bribery Act 2010 actually encompasses and asks is UK corporate in a better position as a result of the new legislation?

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