Bribery Act 2010

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The Bribery Act 2010 ( Engl. Bribery = bribery) is an anti-corruption law of the United Kingdom . It was adopted in April 2010 and came into force on July 1, 2011. A special feature of this law is that it has a worldwide scope and both natural persons and companies can be sanctioned. For this reason, comparisons are made with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) .

Worldwide application area

A perpetrator (natural or legal person ) can also be held responsible if he or she commits an act of bribery abroad and has a close connection with the UK. A close connection always exists if the perpetrator is a national or habitual resident of one of the countries of the United Kingdom . A legal person falls within the scope if it is incorporated under United Kingdom law .

Facts

Responsibility for one's own actions

The most varied acts of bribery are criminalized. Essentially, these correspond to the German criminal offenses of bribery ( § 334 StGB) and corruptibility ( § 332 StGB) as well as corruptibility and bribery in business dealings ( § 299 StGB). A special feature is that so-called "facilitation payments" are also recorded.

Accountability for Third Party Actions

Management accountability

If a company itself has committed an act of bribery, the management level of the company can also be held responsible, even if they are not the perpetrators. A "senior officer" as a person from the top management level of the company is always responsible for the act of bribery if the company has consented to the offense or if it was at least tolerated.

Corporate responsibility

A company can be held responsible for the actions of third parties. This is likely to be a form of “vicarious liability”.

A responsibility always exists when a person (natural or legal) bribes another person (natural or legal) with the intention of bribing to conclude or continue a business or to gain an advantage in doing the business. Furthermore, the person acting must be an “associated person” in relation to the company, which can include employees but also external agents or subsidiaries . It is noteworthy that it does not matter whether the act was committed in the UK. There just needs to be a sufficient connection to the United Kingdom. This can be the case, for example, for exports to the UK or to a subsidiary located there.

Example: A company with an operating facility in the UK may be held responsible for an employee's act in South America .

However, the company has a means of defense. It is not held responsible if it has "adequate procedures" (for example: appropriate measures ) to prevent corruption in the company. The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Kenneth Clarke , specified these measures in a guideline as follows:

  1. Risk assessment
  2. Obligation of the employees by the top management to prevent corruption
  3. Consideration of due diligence when selecting and monitoring business partners
  4. Clear, practical, and available guidelines and procedures
  5. Effective introduction and implementation of the compliance program
  6. Monitoring and (external) review of the compliance program

The compliance program described in this way is only a non-binding recommendation.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/23/contents
  2. ↑ Withus, New British Anti-Corruption Act: Effects on German Companies - Part I: Key points of the new legislation, ZCG 2010, 185.
  3. ↑ Irina Jaekel: Much Ado About Nothing? The draft UK Bribery Act is confusing the compliance world. ( Memento of the original from January 24, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Compliance, November 2010 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / compliance-plattform.de
  4. ↑ Taken from the specialist information of BDO AWT GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft: http://www.bdo-awt.de/fachinformationen/aktuelles/bribery-act-2010-2013-risiken-auch-fuer-deutsche-unternehmen  ( page no longer available , Search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.bdo-awt.de  
  5. ↑ Modlinger, Florian, Do we need corporate criminal law to fight corruption ?, 2010, p. 352 ff.
  6. ↑ Consultation Paper CP11 / 10 of the Ministry of Justice, available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20111121205348/http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/consultations/bribery-act-guidance- consultation1.pdf