Serious Concerns Surrounding Anti-Bribery Act Enforcement

United Kingdom

There are still serious concerns surrounding the enforcement of the soon-to-be-introduced Anti-Bribery Act within businesses, according to industry experts speaking at a breakfast seminar jointly hosted by Robert Walters and international law firm Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge.

At the heart of the Act is the premise that employers should take ‘adequate procedures’ to combat bribery. “The question of adequate procedures is very much up for discussion,” said Warwick English, Associate Counsel and Group Subject Matter Expert for Anti-Bribery and Corruption Matters at Shell, who spoke at the event. “Some hospitality, travel and occasional gifts are generally accepted but when do you overstep the mark? It is not particularly clear at this stage.”

“The Bribery Act will be implemented in April 2011, following a consultation exercise on what constitutes adequate procedures for the purpose of preventing bribery,” explained James Maton, Partner at law firm Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge UK LLP. “Guidelines on this will be published by the Government in January 2011. However, the Act makes an effective anti-bribery and anti-corruption programme essential. This will require: a risk assessment to identify areas of vulnerability; effective systems and controls; board engagement and a compliance programme headed by a senior member of the company; a gifts and hospitality policy; due diligence tests on agents and others performing services on behalf of a company; training; and a whistle-blowing policy to ensure employees can safely and confidentially report knowledge or suspicion of bribery.”

During the seminar, the speakers also reiterated the seriousness of the bribery issue and some of the specifics of the anti-bribery Act. “Bribery is a huge problem as it hurts honest companies. But worst of all the people it has the biggest impact on are those in the poorest countries who can afford it the least,” says English. “The UK has until recently been very poor in terms of enforcement and has lagged behind the US in this respect, although more prosecutions have taken place of late.”

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