Press Room
Grant Thornton comments on the inclusion of the Bribery Bill in
today's Queen's Speech
Sterl Greenhalgh, Forensic partner at leading financial and
business adviser Grant Thornton says, "The inclusion of the Bribery
Bill in today's Queen speech is to be welcomed but it will have
serious consequences for corporate entities. Of particular interest
will be the inclusion of a new corporate offence of "negligent
failure to prevent bribery". This will place the burden of proof on
companies and requires them to establish, implement and monitor
anti- Bribery policies and controls referred to as "adequate
procedures". This is likely to prove challenging for
companies to implement as the government has at present no plans to
provide guidance on what constitutes "adequate procedures".
This means that companies will inevitably lean on the history of
cases determined under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices
Act.
"This will result in the need for additional due diligence being
performed on mergers and acquisitions, on joint venture partners
and in particular on third party agents and intermediaries. It will
also necessitate the inclusion of extra clauses in contracts and
even evaluations of what charitable donations are used for.
"The Bill will also include extra- territorial jurisdiction to
prosecute Bribery. This will enable the prosecution by a UK court
of any individual for any Bribery offence committed anywhere in the
world, so long as the individual is ordinarily resident in the UK.
Similarly, an entity that has a permanent establishment, subsidiary
or other operation in the UK will also be subject to the global
reach of the Bribery Bill.
"The penalties are likely to be tough and shows the commitment the
Serious Fraud Office is placing on the Bribery Bill. The real
challenge will lie in educating organisations on this new piece of
legislation, how not to fall foul of the law but more importantly
how to change their culture and embed anti-Bribery controls within
their organisations", concludes Greenhalgh.