UK Enacts Tough New Bribery Act with Global Reach
The Bribery Act 2010, called the "toughest enforcement standard in the world," creates a new corporate offense of failing to prevent bribery and has significant extraterritorial implications.
The United Kingdom has enacted the Bribery Act 2010, a sweeping anti-corruption law widely considered to be stricter than the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The new legislation significantly expands the scope of bribery offenses and has a broad extraterritorial reach, affecting non-UK companies that carry on a business or part of a business in the UK. Sophisticated clients and counsel must take note of several key changes. The Act creates a new strict-liability corporate offense of failing to prevent bribery by an associated person, with the only defense being the implementation of 'adequate procedures.' Penalties are severe, including unlimited fines for companies and up to 10 years imprisonment for individuals. Unlike the FCPA, the Act criminalizes bribery in the private sector (commercial bribery) in addition to public-official bribery, and it explicitly prohibits small 'facilitation payments.' Given the rising trend of cross-border enforcement, multinational corporations should urgently review their global anti-corruption programs to ensure they meet this new, higher standard and can evidence adequate prevention procedures.