Bribery Legislation Holds Global Implications

A new law is coming to the United Kingdom that might ultimately affect fraud-fighting communities around the globe.

The new U.K. Bribery Act 2010, which received Royal Assent on April 8 of last year and is due to become law in April, creates the controversial offense of “Failure of Commercial Organisations to Prevent Bribery.” An important point for CFEs is that Section 7 of the act reads that an organization has to prove that it had in place before an offense adequate procedures designed to prevent persons associated with it from undertaking such conduct.

This section also says a commercial organization is guilty of an offense if a person associated with that organization bribes another person intending to obtain or retain business or to obtain or retain an advantage in business.

A person associated with an organization (defined by Section 8) is a person who performs services on behalf of it. This could be an employee but also an organization’s agent or subsidiary. Section 7 not only covers U.K. companies but any other incorporated body from any other country that carries on business or part of a business in any part of the U.K.

The new act requires government to provide guidance on the legislation, which is scheduled to be published in January, prior to implementation.