UK Bribery Act Guidance & Qatar Law

The United Kingdom Bribery Act (Act) has generated considerable discussion within the foreign community in Qatar as it has implications not only for individuals and commercial organisations operating inside the United Kingdom, but also for British and foreign companies engaging in business transactions on an international scale. Although the explanatory notes that accompanied the Act were useful, they did not provide sufficient clarity in respect of certain aspects of the Act. In anticipation of the impending implementation of the Act on 1 July 2011, the United Kingdom Ministry of Justice recently produced guidance (Guidance) aimed at clarifying areas of ambiguity introduced by the Act.

We have commented on the content of the Act in previous articles, and accordingly this article focuses on certain clarifications provided in the Guidance.

The Six Principles

Although companies having in place "adequate procedures" to prevent bribery constitutes a defence under the Act, neither the text of the Act nor the explanatory notes set out the criteria characterising "adequate procedures". In the absence of clarity on this matter, many companies were left wondering whether their existing procedures would be categorised as "adequate", and to what degree (if any) new procedures would be required.

The Guidance has now clarified in the form of the "six principles" the way in which companies may determine the sufficiency of their anti-bribery procedures. The six principles are not prescriptive and are intended to allow a certain degree of flexibility, recognising that the challenges faced by a small company may differ considerably from those faced by a larger organisation. The six principles are as follows:

Proportionate procedures – Bribery prevention procedures should be proportionate to the bribery risks the commercial organisation faces. Determining the "appropriate" proportion will depend on various factors including jurisdiction concerns, sophistication of business partners, and the specific business sector. Top level commitment – Members of the top level management should be committed to preventing bribery, and should actively participate in ensuring that employees understand the commercial organisation's bribery prevention procedures. Risk assessment – Commercial organisations should conduct periodic assessments of the nature and extent of their exposure to potential internal and external risks of bribery. Due diligence – Commercial organisations...

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