Bribery Act 2010 -The Need for Compliance

According to the Ministry of Justice, The Bribery Act 'reforms the criminal law 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 and abroad'.

Under the Act, which received Royal Assent on 8^th April 2010, a company can be liable for the behaviour of employees, if it can be shown that the company had insufficient measures in place to prevent bribery.

It need not matter whether the company had actual knowledge of the actions of employees engaged in bribery, the emphasis is now upon whether the company had in place adequate measures to prevent it.

What's more although the legislation is not retrospective, companies need to be aware of its provisions and have in place appropriate safeguards, in time for enactment.