The Bribery Act 2010 has been introduced in the UK to provide a new, modern and comprehensive scheme of bribery offences that will enable courts and prosecutors to respond more effectively to bribery at home or abroad.
The Act:
- Creates two general offences covering the offering, promising or giving of an advantage, and requesting, agreeing to receive or accepting of an advantage
- Creates a discrete offence of bribery of a foreign public official
- Creates a new offence of failure by a commercial organisation to prevent a bribe being paid for or on its behalf (it will be a defence if the organisation has adequate procedures in place to prevent bribery)
- Requires the Secretary of State to publish guidance about procedures that relevant commercial organisations can put in place to prevent bribery on their behalf
Security managers working for UK companies should ensure that relevant procedures and guidance are in place for all employees. For more information, go to: http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/bribery-bill.htm
