The Bribery Act 2010 - How Will It Affect You?

Described as "the toughest bribery legislation in the world" by the Serious Fraud Office, the long awaited Bribery Act 2010 is now due to come into force on 1 July 2011 and places a greater burden on businesses than the current law on bribery. The Act is fairly short but its far reaching scope should not be underestimated. Current Law The existing law on bribery is contained in a combination of statutes going as far back as the nineteenth century and of common law. The existing law is considered to be both antiquated and inadequate to deal with corruption in an increasingly global market. The Act will repeal the existing legislation and abolish the common law offence. However, the Act will not have retrospective effect - the existing law will still be around for many years and apply to any activities occurring before the coming into force of the Act. The New Legislation The Act creates four offences as follows:

(a) giving, offering or promising a bribe (active bribery) (b) requesting, accepting or receiving a bribe (passive bribery) (c) bribing a foreign public official (d) failure by a commercial organisation to prevent bribery by its "associates" Active Bribery and Passive Bribery

These general offences prohibit the following:

(i) the offer, promise or provision of a financial or other advantage to another person with the intention of inducing that person to perform improperly a relevant function or activity or reward that person for doing so; and (ii) a request, agreement to receive or acceptance of a financial or other advantage with the intention that, as a consequence, a relevant function or activity should be performed improperly by the person receiving the bribe or by any other person. The term "relevant function" includes any function of a public nature or any activity connected with a business or performed in the course of a person's employment or by or on behalf of a body of persons (whether corporate or unincorporated), where the person performing the function or activity is expected to perform it in good faith, impartially or is in a position of trust. "Improper performance" is defined by reference to a failure to perform a relevant function or activity in breach of a relevant expectation, namely good faith, impartiality or a position of trust. When determining the level of expectation, the test is what a reasonable person in the UK would expect in relation to the performance of the function or activity. It is worth noting that the function or activity need not have any connection to the UK. Also, for passive bribery it is not necessary for a...

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