A long wait for the Government Guidance

Wednesday, 21 July 2010

The Bribery Act’s key provisions only come into force after the Government has issued official guidance to companies on what constitutes ‘adequate procedures’ for compliance with them.  Companies face potentially disastrous financial and reputational consequences if they fail to prevent bribery and should therefore ensure that they have sound anti-bribery systems.  News that the official guidance won’t be ready until early next year because of yet another consultation process means that the Bribery Act won’t come into force until April 2011. There’s no reason effective guidance could not have been published in time for the Act to commence in 2010. Now there’s a danger that under the guise of ‘consultation’, attempts may be made to water down the Bribery Act. Meanwhile, the victims of corporate bribery, usually the poorest people in the poorest countries, will continue to suffer.

In the meantime companies - especially those with non-existent or weak anti-bribery systems - need to act swiftly.  After all, changing an organisation’s culture can’t be done overnight. In the absence of the long- promised official guidance, TI has today published its own guidance for companies to help them establish robust anti-bribery systems and get a ‘head start’. Our guidance is based on well-established principles and tools that companies all over the world are already using to benchmark their anti-bribery systems.  We would welcome feedback from companies on the TI Guidance.