Bribery Act Factsheet

 

The Bribery Act 2010 (the “Act”) came into force on 1 July 2011.  Previously, bribery-related offences were limited to transactions that involved public officials. The Act now extends bribery offences to cover all private sector transactions. However, it only deals with bribery and not other forms of so-called white collar crime such as fraud or anti-competitive behaviour. Contravention of the Act can give rise to criminal penalties for organisations and individuals, including directors and employees.

This factsheet provides a summary of the Act’s main provisions from an employment law perspective. It also refers to the Ministry of Justice’s guidance on adequate procedures that commercial organisations can put in place to prevent bribery (“Adequate Procedures Guidance”).