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Corporate and fraudulent behaviour

Bribing a foreign official

This offence is committed where a person offers or promises to give a financial or
other inducement to an official with the intention that this will influence the official in
his professional capacity and allow the individual a business advantage.

The penalties and defences

A person charged with bribery may have a defence if he can prove that his conduct
was necessary for proper exercise of an intelligence service or of any function of the
armed forces when engaged on active service.

The maximum penalty is ten years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.

Corporate Liability

Any commercial organisation can be sued for failure to prevent bribery. This action
can be taken against an organisation when a person within the business has
committed a bribery offence.

The organisation has a defence if it can prove that it had in place
‘adequate procedures’ to prevent bribery. It should be considered what
the potential risks of bribery are before deciding if the procedures taken
are adequate.

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