The Bribery Act 2010 – What Is It And How Could Is Affect Your Business?

The Bribery Act 2010 came into force on 1st July 2011. The Act is wide ranging and covers both the public and private sectors. This article looks at the four new criminal offences that are covered by the Act as well as looking at the consequences of finding yourself charged and convicted with one of these new offences.

The Bribery Act 2010 creates four new criminal offences, which are:

1. Offering, promising or giving a bribe (even if the bribe is not accepted an offence will still have been committed);
2. Requesting, agreeing to receive or accepting a bribe;
3. Bribing a foreign public official;
4. Failing to prevent bribery by an associated person.

In respect of offence number 4, often thought of as the most serious and controversial offence, an ‘associated person’ includes anyone that performs a service on behalf of your organisation.

If your business is convicted of failing to prevent bribery you will face a fine of an unspecified amount and with no minimum or maximum value.

Any individuals (such as employees, directors, contractors etc) involved in the crime in question may face a prison sentence of up to ten years and/or a fine.

Enforcement of the Act is the responsibility of the Serious Fraud Office. The Serious Fraud Office takes all four crimes created by the Act incredibly seriously.

Is there a Defence to any or all of the offences? It will only be possible to successfully defend yourself from prosecution if you can demonstrate that you had adequate procedures in place designed to prevent bribery and to show that those procedures were rigidly followed. The government has issued guidance for employers on this controversial and somewhat ambiguous Act in an attempt to make it more understandable. It is now deemed vital that every employer should have an anti-bribery policy in place.

An anti-bribery policy should be drawn up by a specialist lawyer and should be circulated amongst all members of staff. The policy should make it clear that absolutely no bribery will be tolerated, it should provide staff with guidance as to how to avoid being involved with bribery and it should set out the disciplinary measures to be taken if any member of staff acts in any way that contravenes the policy.

The Bribery Act 2010 should not be taken lightly and having an anti-bribery policy in place is the first step that you, as an employer, can take to show that you understand the seriousness of the Act and its consequences.

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