FEATURE NO DIRTY BUSINESS
Anti-bribery procedures are an essential part of ethical business practices, but there is also a legal obligation to tackle this issue. The primary legislation governing bribery and corruption in the UK is The Bribery Act 2010, which came into force on 1 July 2011. The Act introduced the strict liability corporate offence of failing to prevent bribery. This requires companies to have ‘adequate procedures’ to prevent bribery which will come under scrutiny if they face prosecution.
The Bribery Act 2010 applies to all operations of a company with a business in the UK, even if offences are committed outside the UK or by a separate third party ‘associated person’ who is acting on behalf of the company, such as an agent, supplier or contractor.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/23/contents
PRINCIPLES OF PREVENTION The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has published six principles of bribery prevention to help businesses put adequate procedures for prevention in place.
Be proportionate: Any action taken should be proportionate to the risks faced and the size of a business. A large organisation might need to do more to prevent bribery, as might an organisation operating in an overseas market where bribery is known to be commonplace. In contrast, a small organisation might need to do less.
Show Top Level Commitment: Those at the top of an organisation are in the best position to ensure their organisation conducts business without bribery. Business leaders should show that they have been active in ensuring that staff (including any middle management) and the key people who do business with them understand that the business does not tolerate bribery.
Carry out a Risk Assessment: Businesses should think about the bribery risks they might face. This could include undertaking research into the markets you operate in and the people you deal with, especially when entering into new business arrangements and new markets overseas.
Perform Due Diligence: Businesses should know exactly who they are dealing with to help protect their organisation from taking on people who might be less than trustworthy. It is advisable to perform checks before engaging others to represent you in business dealings.
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Communicate policies and procedures: Clear communication to staff and others who will perform services for an organisation enhances awareness and helps to deter bribery. Consider whether additional training or awareness-raising would be appropriate or proportionate to your business.
Monitoring and review your approach: The risks faced, and the effectiveness of procedures may change over time. Businesses may want to keep an eye on the anti-bribery steps already taken so that they keep pace with any changes in the bribery risks they face when, for example, they enter new markets.
PREVENTING BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION IN
THE SUPPLY CHAIN Demonstrating that adequate procedures are in place to prevent bribery and corruption throughout the supply chain can be challenging. Few organisations have the resources to monitor individual contractors, so an increasing number of organisations are turning to third-party accreditation to help demonstrate compliance. For example, bribery and corruption compliance is just one of the areas monitored through CHAS’s supply chain management service that clients can use free of charge to find and monitor contractors compliant with a range of requirements.
Bribery and corruption is also a key focus of the new Common Assessment Standard (CAS), a streamlined, industry-led, pre-qualification accreditation programme adopted by the construction industry in 2019 which assesses compliance across several areas. To be awarded the Common Assessment Standard, contractors must provide evidence of adequate procedures to prevent persons within or associated with their organisation from receiving bribes or bribing others.
www.chas.co.uk www.tomorrowshs.com
Ahead of International Anti-Corruption Day on Thursday 9 December, Alex Minett, Head of Products & Markets at CHAS, considers how businesses can mitigate the risk of bribery and corruption within their supply chains.
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