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Andrew, I’ve heard that the Bribery Act is just a codification of existing laws. Is that the case?
Well, it’s correct to a certain extent.
It’s true to say that the first thing the Bribery Act does is it sweeps away lots of antiquated 19th century legislation
and puts bribery in a new, modern piece of legislation for the 21st century.
But it also extends the scope of bribery in two really important areas I think.
Firstly, it introduces a brand new offence of failing to prevent bribery, which can only be committed by a company.
And secondly, it extends the jurisdiction of the Act beyond the UK.
So this isn’t just about bribery in the UK?
No. It is possible for a company to be convicted of a bribery offence
as a result of the activities of persons associated with it,
performing services on its behalf, who can be anywhere in the world.
It’s not just about employees then?
If you’re an employee, the presumption is you’re performing services on behalf of your employer,
but it also covers agents, subsidiary companies, joint venture companies.
Anybody who performs services on your behalf, anywhere in the world.
If you’ve committed an offence, what are the consequences?
Well the consequences are, on conviction an individual faces a prison term of up to 10 years,
a corporate defendant if convicted would face an unlimited fine,
and then there’s all the usual add ons in relation to bad publicity,
cost of the investigation, and disruption caused by facing a criminal investigation.
Who is the regulator?
The regulator is the Serious Fraud Office, and they’ve been actively promoting themselves over the summer.
Their director has been making a number of speeches around the place,
promoting the fact that they are fully aware of the new powers they have
and they will be pursuing them and following up on those activities.
When does the Bribery Act come into force?
It’s on the Statute Book already. It kicks in next April.
The Government need to issue guidance on the new corporate offence, which they’re planning to do early in the new year,
and in fact they’re also proposing a short consultation on that, sometime this month.
If you were an in-house lawyer, what would you be doing now?
I’d be thinking about all our activities across the world.
The Act is significant because it might place liability on you for the activities of people who don’t work for you, who just perform services for you.
So I think I’d start there.
I’d find out and establish whether there are people who could fall into that category,
and I would then start thinking about the control measures we have in place for those people.