BRIBERY ACT 2010（一）

ACCA F4考試：BRIBERY ACT 2010（一）

Focusing on the Bribery Act 2010, this article considers the likely key role accountants will play in reviewing organisational risks relating to bribery, and implementing adequate procedures and controls

The Bribery Act 2010 was passed in April 2010 and will be examinable from June 2012. The Act repeals old UK bribery laws and is aimed at dealing with the risk of bribery and corruption, which undermines corporate governance, the rule of law and damages economic development.

BRIBERY OFFENCES

There are four offences of bribery under the Act:

s.1 Offences of bribing another person

It is an offence to offer a financial or other advantage to another person to perform improperly a relevant function or activity, or to reward a person for the improper performance of such a function or activity.

s.2 Offences relating to being bribed

It is an offence where a person receives or accepts a financial or other advantage to perform a relevant function or activity improperly.

‘Relevant function or activity’ includes any function of a public nature, any activity connected with a business, any activity performed in the course of a person’s employment, and any activity performed by – or on behalf of – a body of persons. The activity may be performed in a country outside the UK.

s.6 Bribery of foreign public officials

It is an offence directly, or though a third party, to offer a financial or other advantage to a foreign public official (FPO) to influence them in their capacity as a FPO, and to obtain relevant business, or an advantage in the conduct of business.

‘FPO’ means an individual who holds a legislative, administrative or judicial position of any kind outside the UK, or who exercises a public function outside the UK, or is an official or agent of a public international organisation.

s.7 Failure of commercial organisations to prevent bribery

It is an offence for a commercial organisation (a UK company or partnership) if a person associated with it bribes another person intending to obtain or retain business, or to obtain or retain an advantage in the conduct of the business for the organisation.

This could take place outside the UK. S.8 defines associated persons as someone who performs services for – or on behalf of – the commercial organisation, and, therefore, could be an employee, agent or subsidiary.

An organisation does, however, have a defence under s.7 if it can prove it had in place adequate procedures designed to prevent bribery. S.9 requires the Secretary of State to publish guidance about adequate procedures. The guidance, which was published in March 2011, states that what counts as adequate will depend on the bribery risks faced by an organisation, and the nature, size and complexity of the business. Further, if there is no risk of bribery, then an organisation will not require any procedures to prevent bribery. The guidance is not prescriptive and is based around six guiding principles.