Firms in the UK will need more guidance on complying with the Bribery Act’s strict rules

The passing of the Bribery Act 2010 into UK law has created one of the toughest anti-corruption regimes in existence. Firms operating in the UK will no longer be allowed to make “facilitation payments”, which have often been thinly veiled bribes.

Previous UK anti-bribery legislation dated from the nineteenth century, whereas the new legislation goes beyond more modern laws such as the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

The FCPA was primarily aimed at targeting bribes to corrupt foreign government officials, whereas the scope of the UK’s Bribery Act more broadly targets corruption across the corporate gambit.

The UK Bribery Act allows unlimited fines against firms, while individual penalties are up to 10 years' imprisonment, compared with five years under the FCPA.

“All this bad activity has been illegal for a long time, but it’s the ability to prosecute companies and individuals that has been so difficult,” says Bob Hirth, vice-president and head of global internal audit at Protiviti, a financial services consultancy.

“One motive behind this Act was to provide for more effective prosecutions. It is broad and ambitious, but the devil is in the detail,” he says.

The Act requires systems and controls to be put in place to demonstrate compliance with the new regime. Compliance to the FCPA does not guarantee compliance to the Act.

via UK Bribery Act broader than FCPA, but more guidelines needed – Risk.net.