There is the thorny issue of facilitation payments – payments made to officials to speed up processes, for example to get an export licence through quicker.  Lots of business are asked to pay these, but what should you do, as the Bribery Act makes it clear that you should not pay them?

Corporate hopitality – can you take clients to Lords or out to lunch?  Can you send them a client to say “thank you”?  One interesting question that came up yesterday was whether you can take away the personal partners or families of the people you want to impress?

But a big thank you must go to Lord Triesman and the Sunday Times.  Thank you for providing a very live case study about alleged corruption by certain members of football’s international governing body, FIFA.   Can the Bribery Act catch them if they have done anything wrong?  Would accepting a gift that is for a charity or a “good local cause that helps the community” rather than the member of the committee’s back pocket amount to a bribe?  And what is the story with Qatar’s bid, because according to Transparency International Qatar is deemed to be a less corrupt place than the UK, as can be seen here: http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010/results?  Should England have played ball to have won the right to host the 2018 World Cup?  Or should England be keen to be the winner of the more humble fair play award?

In your own business, can you afford not to play keepy uppy with what your competitors are doing?  Or can you afford not to play ball with the requirements of the new Bribery Act?  Do you play a gung ho formation and just go for it, or play it with a solid defence?

These are the dilemmas facing businesses.  But there are very serious issues at stake and businesses can’t afford to bury their heads in the sand.  To continue the sporting analogy, you might want to make your own luck, and speak to us to find out more what tactics to pursue.

The Bill has had its second reading in the Commons and goes into its committee stage tomorrow. It looks likely to receive Royal assent before the General Election (probably 6 May 2010).

But now the UK is taking steps to update its anti-corruption legislation in the form of the Bribery Bill.
Commercial organisations should take note.

1. The Bill replaces existing corruption offences which are presently found in a hotchpotch of case law and statute, much of it over a century old.

2. There will now be two general offences: offering, promising or giving an advantage (bribing) and; requesting and agreeing to receive or accepting an advantage (being bribed).

3. The offence will be based on an intention to induce improper conduct rather than the current basis of agent/principal.

4. Corporate Hospitality will be caught. In an explanatory letter the government has endeavoured to draw a line between “corporate hospitality for legitimate commercial purposes” (legal) and “obviously lavish or extraordinary hospitality” (illegal). It looks ok on paper but it will be more difficult to judge in practice – will it be lavish or extraordinary, for example, to entertain customers at the British Grand Prix, or Monaco, or Brazil?

5. And there is a new offence where a commercial organisation fails to prevent bribery. The organisation will face prosecution where one of its associates commits bribery to obtain business for it. There is one defence to the claim, which is where the organisation can prove on a balance of probabilities that it had in place adequate procedures designed to prevent its associates from engaging in bribery. This is bound to spawn a new industry in anti-corruption management techniques and corporate systems.

6. Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the Bill is a complete defence where the bribery was conducted by any law enforcement agency, the security services or the armed forces. This has given rise to two questions in the media: (1) are the ends worth the means? (2) why should such protection be given to those who receive bribes, rather than giving them? Expect some debate on this clause.