Recent legislation creates a new offence of "failure to prevent bribery".
This could cause company directors to land up in court if they have not put adequate procedures in place to prevent bribery in the workplace.
The new legislation received Royal Assent on April 8 2010 and sets out exactly what constitutes a bribe.
It includes penalties of up to ten years’ imprisonment and unlimited fines for those found guilty.
From now on, executives will have to effectively police their own business and hand the company into the authorities if they uncover any malpractice.
It is crucial that where allegations of bribery or corruption are made, these are promptly investigated and firm action is taken.
It is possible that in day to day life or in the working environment directors and employees have or will come across questionable practices; things that, given individual knowledge and experience, just do not seem to add up. This may not necessarily mean that corruption is present but it may be something that they wish to bring to the attention of their manager or the SFO.
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