To both clean up corporate behaviour and rack up its own enforcement record, the UK’s anti-bribery agency has seemingly largely guaranteed companies a pass from prosecution if they spill the beans on their misconduct. There’s only one problem: experts believe businesses may still stand a better outcome if they front it out rather than self-report and hope for a deal.

Neil Hodge is a freelance business journalist and photographer based in Nottingham, United Kingdom. He writes on insurance and risk management, corporate governance, internal audit, compliance, and legal...