Bribery Act 2010 Guidance published

On 30 March 2011 the Ministry of Justice published its long awaited guidance on the Bribery Act 2010 (the “Act”).  If an organisation can prove that it has adequate procedures in place, then they may form a defence to the offence of failing to prevent bribery under section 7 of the Act.

The guidance advocates a risk based approach to adopting adequate procedures.  The six principles as set out in the guidance are:

Proportionate Procedures

The procedures in place to prevent bribery should be proportionate to the risks a company faces and to the nature, scale and complexity of its activities.  This offers welcome respite to smaller businesses that are less likely to take part in overseas transactions.

Top-Level Commitment

Leadership on preventing bribery must come from management, who must foster a culture of “zero tolerance” to bribery.

Risk Assessment

Companies will be responsible for ongoing and in-depth risk assessment of their potential exposure to bribery.

Due Diligence

Companies will have to carry out stringent due diligence investigations into parties they do business with, in order to assess the risk of bribery.

Communication and Training

Businesses must make sure that all employees and associates are aware of the bribery policy and procedures, and must provide training on compliance where necessary.

Monitoring and Review

The procedures in place to prevent bribery must be constantly reviewed and improved.

The Guidance can be found here:-

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bribery-act-2010-guidance

The Bribery Act will come into force on 1 July 2011.

Please note that this information is provided for general knowledge only and therefore specific advice should be sought for individual cases.

For further information, please contact Paul Gilks.