Earlier this year, implementation of the UK Bribery Act 2010 (the Bribery Act), which was originally scheduled for April 2011, was delayed pending publication of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) guidance on the "adequate procedures" that businesses should put in place to prevent bribery. Under the Bribery Act, "adequate procedures" could provide a defence to the new section 7 offence under the Bribery Act of failure of a commercial organisation to prevent bribery. The MoJ said that it aimed to make the guidance as "practical and comprehensive" as possible: it will apply to UK commercial organisations as well as any non-UK commercial organisation that carries on a business or part of a business in the UK.
Last month, we issued an alert on the guidance, which may be accessed by clicking here.
For additional information, visit our UK Bribery Act 2010 resource page for insight into:
- the definition of proportionate procedures
- the six principles set out in the Bribery Act
- industry concerns
- facilitation payments
- next steps
- additional resources
