Bribery Act Update

New U.K. Bribery Act Stricter than FCPA, Can Apply Worldwide

On April 8, 2010, a new Bribery Act was passed by the U.K. Parliament. It is not yet in force - and will not be before October 2010 at the earliest.

However, this is a significant development for companies that do business in the U.K., especially those that are also subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The Bribery Act goes beyond the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in criminalizing public and commercial bribery.

The Bribery Act prohibits all commercial bribery making it an offense to:

• offer, promise or give a bribe; or
• request, agree to receive or accept a bribe.

The Bribery Act also tracks the FCPA with respect to the bribery of government officials by specifically outlawing:

• bribes to a foreign public official;
  
• with the intent to influence the official in their official capacity;
  
• in order to obtain or retain business or an advantage in the conduct of business.

A foreign public official is widely defined and includes anyone who holds a legislative, administrative or judicial position of any kind, who exercises a public function or who is an official or agent of a public international organization (a definition not dissimilar to that under the FCPA).

Importantly, the Bribery Act does offer some comfort to companies with effective compliance programs by providing a defense to companies who can prove they had in place adequate procedures designed to prevent bribery. The Bribery Act also purports to apply extraterritorially both to companies incorporated in the U.K. and persons with close connections to the U.K. through citizenship, residence or other similar circumstances.

To view the full update, please click here.