Corruption (Commercial) meaning

Does the business maintain a due diligence policy that covers every party to a commercial relationship, including the company’s supply chain, agents, joint ventures, intermediaries, or any comparable or similar arrangement? Has this policy been rolled out and properly enforced in all of the markets in which the company trades and operates? See Precedent: Anti‑bribery and corruption policy The company must know who it is engaging with to carry out an effective risk assessment. It should use a due diligence information form that the contracting party completes and signs, so the due diligence information supplied can be reviewed and assessed by the company...

Judge Robin Knowles decided Mozambique may add Safa's widow and sons to its proceedings, and that the High Court should remain the venue for the ongoing case, even if ultimately Lebanese law must be applied in full. The French-Lebanese tycoon had passed away before the judge delivered his decision backing the south-east African state in its landmark action linked to the 'tuna bond' corruption scandal...

FEPA FEPA is a landmark statute that, for the first time in US history, criminalises foreign officials who solicit or receive bribes in return for carrying out an official act to secure a commercial benefit. It applies where a foreign official seeks or takes bribes from issuers or domestic concerns, or from any person whilst the official is in the US. Enacted with bipartisan, bicameral backing, the law grants federal prosecutors expansive extraterritorial authority to pursue corrupt foreign officials who demand or accept bribes. For decades, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) was the only foreign bribery regime, and it addresses the supply side of misconduct—ie, paying or offering bribes to public officials to gain a business advantage. Yet the FCPA does not authorise prosecutors to charge the other participant in a quid pro quo-style bribery scheme—the bribe-seeking official—and, until FEPA’s arrival, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has resorted to applying other statutes, such as money laundering and wire fraud, when seeking to indict corrupt foreign officials...

In this issue Criminal procedure and evidence Proceeds of crime Appeal and judicial review Bribery, corruption, sanctions and export controls Environmental offences Fraud, forgery, tax and theft offences Health and safety and corporate manslaughter offences Local authority prosecutions Money laundering Corporate Crime in Scotland International Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Criminal procedure and evidence CTJ issues updated Crown Court Compendium The Courts and Tribunals Judiciary (CTJ) has released a revised Crown Court Compendium, Parts I and II. This ninth edition reflects the position as at July 2024. See: LNB News 02/08/2024 82. Proceeds of crime SFO recovers funds from convicted property developer On 2 August 2024, Britain’s white-collar crime prosecutor confirmed it had recovered £86,000 (US$110,000) from a former commercial property developer, convicted of fraud over a decade ago, after identifying his acquisition...

Embedding sustainability This Practice Note considers supply chain sustainability through the wider lens of sustainable procurement and environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance, concentrating on leading themes in UK and EU private sector practice. It offers practical direction on setting up a supplier code of conduct and building a comprehensive supply chain sustainability programme that addresses: Human rights and labour standards Environmental impacts and deforestation Corruption and litigation exposure Risk management across the supply chain Public procurement sits outside the scope of this note. For further information on supply chain sustainability in the UK, including details on UK regulations, see Practice Note: Supply chain sustainability—UK. For further information on supply chain sustainability in the EU, including details on EU regulations, see Practice Note: Supply chain sustainability—EU. For further information on sustainable public procurement in the UK, see Practice Note: A guide to sustainable public procurement. Supply chain sustainability has moved from the margins to a central business priority. Although...

Section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010 (BA 2010) introduced a corporate criminal offence of failing to prevent bribery. A defence is available where a commercial organisation can show it had adequate procedures in place to prevent it. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has published guidance on the procedures organisations should adopt to prevent bribery, framed around six principles. These principles are not prescriptive; they are designed to be flexible and outcome-focused. Bribery prevention measures should be proportionate to the organisation’s risk exposure. Once established, they should be monitored, reviewed and evaluated, a point reinforced by MoJ principle 6—Monitoring and review. This How to guide sets out some of the ways organisations can monitor, review and evaluate their anti-bribery and corruption procedures. Importance of monitoring systems Effective monitoring and review are vital to the long-term sustainability of an organisation’s anti-bribery and corruption programme and to its capacity to demonstrate adequate operating procedures. Principle 6 of the MoJ guidance provides that organisations should monitor and review procedures intended to...

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) guidance for commercial organisations on preventing bribery is centred on six principles. These are not prescriptive; they are intended to be flexible and focused on outcomes. Bribery prevention procedures should be proportionate to the level of risk the organisation faces. Accordingly, the measures adopted to deliver an organisation’s anti-bribery policies ought to be designed to: mitigate identified risks, and prevent deliberate unethical conduct by associated persons Communicating policies and procedures to staff at every level, and providing training on their practical use, is a vital element. This is reinforced by MoJ principle 5 on Communication (including training). This Practice Note outlines ways to train staff and raise awareness of anti-bribery and corruption issues. Top-level commitment A consistent theme in the MoJ guidance is the importance of commitment from the top. Effective leadership in preventing bribery will take different forms that are suitable for, and proportionate to, an organisation’s size, management structure and particular circumstances...

What are bribery and corruption? Corruption, in broad terms, is the misuse of entrusted power through dishonest conduct to secure personal or commercial benefit. Bribery is a form of corruption and, in a business setting, refers to any advantage—financial or otherwise—offered or accepted with the aim of rewarding or prompting the improper performance of a public, business or employment-related task. Performance is improper where there is an expectation that the activity will be undertaken in good faith, yet it is carried out in a way that breaches that expectation. What are the four offences under the Bribery Act 2010 (BA 2010)? BA 2010 sets out four principal bribery offences: bribing another person requesting or accepting a bribe bribing a foreign public official failing to prevent bribery (this applies only to businesses) Who can be involved in bribery? Bribery can be carried out by individuals, corporate entities and their officers, as well as by foreign public officials...

We conduct our operations with integrity. Together, we each share responsibility for keeping our business free from bribery and corruption. This FAQ, central to that mission, explains how we can reach our commercial objectives in a way that aligns fully with our determination to prevent bribery and corruption. It serves as a practical guide so we work collectively to keep our activities untainted. What is a facilitation payment? A facilitation (or grease) payment is an unofficial sum given to secure or accelerate the performance of routine, non-discretionary government actions. These are nominal amounts commonly paid to lower-level public or government employees to help speed up a legitimate, permitted process that might otherwise take much longer to complete...

Section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010 (BA 2010) provides: (1) A relevant commercial organisation (“C”) is guilty of an offence under this section if a person (“A”) associated with C offers a bribe to another person with the intention of: (a) securing or retaining business for C; or (b) securing or retaining an advantage in the conduct of C’s business. (2) However, it is a defence for C to prove that it had in place adequate procedures devised to prevent persons associated with C from carrying out such conduct. BA 2010, s 8 defines an associated person: (1) For the purposes of section 7, a person (“A”) is associated with C if (disregarding any bribe under consideration) A is a person who performs services for or on behalf of C. (2) The capacity in which A performs services for or on behalf of C does not matter. (3) Accordingly A may (for example) be C’s...