Bribery undermines the rule of law and the principle of fair competition and entrenches bad governance in such countries, hindering their efforts to alleviate poverty and often contributing to instability and human rights abuses. In addition, the reinforcement of poor governance in aid-recipient countries undermines the impact of UK aid and taxpayers' value for money.

 

Bribery can lead directly to human suffering and death, for example where it results in government contracts being awarded to companies that perform substandard construction work or provide substandard goods and services in the health sector. Bribery of foreign officials can help to entrench corrupt elites by providing the incentive and the means to maintain a tight grip on power, particularly in natural resource rich states where the stakes and potential rewards are higher.

    

     

Bribery is bad for business as it distorts investment climates, undermining the Department for International Development growth agenda. It raises the costs for UK businesses that operate overseas and discourages UK companies from entering new markets. When the problem is tackled effectively it benefits business by creating a level playing field, in which sales and contracts are won through an open market. This creates greater contract security and reduces the cost of doing business through eliminating the 'bribery tax' in contractual agreements.

 

The UK Bribery Act 2010 was introduced to update and enhance UK law on bribery including foreign bribery in order to address better the requirements of the 1997 OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions. It is now among the strictest legislation internationally on bribery. Notably, it introduces a new strict liability offence for companies and partnerships of failing to prevent bribery.