The UK Bribery Act, enacted by the UK Parliament on April 8, 2010, criminalizes commercial bribery and bribery of domestic and foreign government officials; receipt of a bribe; and failure by a corporate entity to prevent bribery. The new law has been a hot topic for lawyers and international companies, as it goes beyond the FCPA in certain respects, and introduces a new, strict liability offense for any corporate entity that fails to prevent bribery.
The Bribery Act had been widely expected to become effective before the end of autumn 2010, but the UK's Ministry of Justice
announced yesterday that the Bribery Act is now expected to come into force in April 2011. It also stated that in September, the UK government "will launch a short consultation exercise on the guidance about procedures which commercial organisations can put in place to prevent bribery on their behalf."
According to an
article in the FT, Ken Clarke,
appointed last month as the United Kingdom’s new international anti-corruption champion, "bowed to pressure from business by delaying implementation of the long-awaited Bribery Act by six months, a move anti-corruption activists claimed could lead to it being watered down." The Bribery Act has reportedly "induced panic" among many leading companies, which fear damage to reputations and cut profits.