UK Bribery ActA wakeup call for India Inc. |
Any Indian company that does some business in the UK, irrespective and not limited to those listed there, or which might have a physical set-up in the UK, are now potentially liable for prosecution under the recently enacted anti-corruption law - ‘The UK Bribery Act 2010’. Having received the royal assent, the Act came into force with effect from 1 July 2011. The objective is to regulate bribery and corruption offences committed both in the UK and abroad. The Act applies to UK companies as well as companies that carry on business in the UK, British citizens and persons residing in the UK.
In a lecture jointly organized by Deloitte and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP at Delhi (1 August 2011) and Mumbai (2 August 2011), four key offences under this legislation were stressed upon during a keynote address by Lord Goldsmith QC, Debevoise partner and former UK Attorney General. This includes giving a bribe, receiving a bribe, bribing a foreign public official and failing to prevent bribery.
“Corporate India will need to take proactive measures which are proportionate to the size and nature of their business in order to prevent bribery and corruption”, said, Sumit Makhija, Senior Director, Deloitte. “The UK Bribery Act presents the latest and possibly the most significant new compliance challenge in years to multinational entities, as well as individuals.”
Speaking at the occasion, Neeta Potnis, Senior Director, Deloitte in India, said that the U.K. Bribery Act provides for statutory defence of a commercial organization if it can demonstrate that it has adopted 'adequate procedures' designed to prevent persons associated with it from committing bribery.
"Indian companies doing business in the UK will need to review their compliance programmes to ensure that the systems and guidelines they have in place indeed represent 'adequate procedures' to prevent bribery from occurring," stated Lord Goldsmith QC.
The introduction of the corporate offence of failing to prevent bribery is a key feature of the new Act. Any associated person that performs services for or on behalf of the company, e.g., an agent or employee – or subsidiary will also come under the realm of the new Act. The only affirmative statutory defense available to companies charged with the corporate offence is to demonstrate that they have “adequate procedures” in place to prevent bribery.
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Neeta Potnis, Senior Director, Deloitte in India addressing the gathering at the U.K. Bribery Act event in Mumbai on 2 August, 2011
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Sumit Makhija, Senior Director, Deloitte in India addressing the gathering at the U.K. Bribery Act event in Delhi on 1 August, 2011
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A view of the U.K. Bribery Act event in progress at Delhi
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Deloitte presentation - 1st August
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