Overview

On 31 January, a spokesman for the UK Ministry of Justice (MoJ) confirmed that publication of the MoJ’s guidance on "adequate procedures", a defence to one of the new offences under the Bribery Act 2010, will be delayed.

The MoJ had indicated it would publish early in 2011, widely interpreted as before the end of January. As a consequence of the delay, the coming into force of the Bribery Act itself will be delayed beyond the MoJ’s indication of April 2011.

The delay is widely perceived to have been caused by pressure from industry (most notably the Confederation of British Industry) and from UK press expressing concerns at the scope of the offences and at the alleged competitive disadvantage to UK businesses when competing with those outside the application of the Bribery Act.

This Latham & Watkins briefing takes a look at the implications of the delay.

Click ‘View Briefing’ to read more.