Understanding the UK Bribery Act

Understanding the UK Bribery Act 2010 is the first step towards preventing bribery and its consequences. We unpack everything you need to know and ways to prevent bribery in your organisation and elsewhere.

Key takeaways

• The UK Bribery Act 2010 is an anti-corruption law that applies to individuals and companies, helping define bribery, who is liable, and what punishments can be imposed.
• Under the Act, primary offences include bribing another person, being bribed, bribing a foreign public official and failure to prevent bribery.
• Individuals and companies that breach the Act can face unlimited fines, up to 10 years in prison and reputational damage.
• Corporate gifts and hospitality can be deemed a bribe if they’re intended to influence a decision improperly or secure a business advantage.
• The only defence under the Act is proving adequate procedures were in place to prevent bribery, such as proportionate procedures and regular risk assessments.
• To ensure compliance, appropriate anti-bribery training is essential.

Most people think of a bribe as a person or company paying someone to secure an advantage. While this is broadly true, many types of bribery exist, and the definition can be easily misinterpreted or misunderstood.

For example, if a business owner treats a potential client to an expensive meal in the hopes of winning them over as a customer, is that a bribe?

The UK Bribery Act 2010 helps answer these questions. It provides a legal definition of bribery, specifies certain types, and governs what punishments can be handed out. The Act was introduced to replace outdated legislation and is so comprehensive that countries worldwide use it to inspire their own anti-corruption laws.

Exploring the UK Bribery Act

• What is the UK Bribery Act 2010?
• Penalties and consequences
• Is corporate hospitality a bribe?
• Adequate procedures defence
• Are you compliant with the UK Bribery Act?
• UK Bribery Act: FAQs

What is the UK Bribery Act 2010?

The UK Bribery Act 2010 is an anti-corruption law that applies to individuals and companies. It defines bribery, who is liable, and what punishments can be imposed.

The British Bribery Act has a broad reach and applies to UK citizens, residents and companies regardless of where the bribery takes place. It also applies to non-UK companies that conduct business in the United Kingdom, regardless of where the bribery occurs.

Under the Act, bribery occurs when someone is:

“offering, promising or giving a financial or other advantage to a person to induce or reward a person to perform a relevant function or activity improperly.”

Primary offences governed by the Act

Bribing another person

The Act makes it illegal to offer, promise or give a financial (or other) advantage to someone to influence them to perform their duties improperly. This can be anything from cash to assets or even something less tangible like a promise of future promotion.

Being bribed

It’s not just the giver of the bribe who is liable. It’s also an offence to request, agree to receive, or accept a bribe in exchange for improperly performing your duties.

Bribing a foreign public official

This involves offering, promising, or giving a bribe to a foreign official with the intention of influencing them to obtain or retain a business advantage.

Failure to prevent bribery

This is the big one for UK businesses – a company can be held liable if it fails to prevent bribery by someone associated with it (for example, employees, agents or subsidiaries). The company’s only defence is proving it had "adequate procedures" in place to prevent bribery.

Penalties and consequences

If you or your company are convicted of breaching UK bribery law, you'll face severe penalties, ranging from unlimited fines to lengthy prison sentences.

• Individuals prosecuted under the Act can be hit with unlimited fines and sentenced to up to 10 years in prison, with punishments based on the seriousness of the offence. Directors or managers are also disqualified from acting as company directors for a set length of time.
• Companies guilty of any form of bribery under the Act face unlimited fines. They may also be issued with a confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, allowing the government to reclaim financial benefits gained through bribery.

The reputational damage of a conviction is also worth considering. You may lose customers and be forced to close. Businesses may also be banned from bidding on government contracts or engaging in public-sector projects.

Is corporate hospitality a bribe?

Businesses are at risk of bribery more often than they think. As mentioned, client hospitality could potentially be viewed as bribery, so how do you keep safe?  

UK bribery law focuses on conduct rather than outcome – it’s about identifying an intention to encourage someone to do something they wouldn't usually.

This means corporate gifts and hospitality aren’t automatically bribery. However, they are if the intention is to influence a decision improperly or secure a business advantage.

Unfortunately, this puts business owners in a tricky position, because certain acts may come down to subjective ruling. Rather than take any chances, you can create a Gifts and Hospitality register to track activity and mitigate the risk of bribery or fraud.

Also consider implementing our top tips for your gifts and hospitality policy:

1. Use common sense with corporate gifts – for example, providing refreshments, a meal or overnight accommodation to interview candidates are perfectly reasonable and legitimate.
2. Set and communicate clear limits – ensure you set a company policy with defined rules and make sure all employees are aware.
3. Think about the timing and context – what other events are happening around the same time a gift is given or received that may be seen as an attempt to influence the outcome unduly?
4. Encourage employees to use three key criteria to judge – is there a legitimate business purpose, is it proportionate, is it transparent/declared?
5. Encourage transparency with corporate gifting – making information regarding gifts and hospitality publicly available can reduce the number of submissions that are declined.
6. Build a formal oversight process – ensure gifts and hospitality are declared in your register.
7. Think about reputational risk – even if the value of gift(s) isn’t high, there may be a perception of wrongdoing or impropriety, which can damage your company's reputation; often, large volumes of small gifts can easily go under the radar.
8. When in doubt, seek advice before proceeding – ask your manager, finance or compliance team if you’re unsure.

Adequate procedures defence

Bribery can sometimes happen even if you've taken steps to prevent it. The only defence under the Act is proving adequate procedures were in place to prevent bribery.

What are these adequate measures? The government issued six principles to guide businesses.

1. Proportionate procedures: Anti-bribery measures should be proportionate to the size and complexity of the company.
2. Top-level commitment: Senior management should be committed to preventing bribery and fostering a culture of compliance.
3. Risk assessment: Companies should regularly assess bribery risks they may face in their operations.
4. Due diligence: Conduct due diligence on persons performing services for or on behalf of the company to prevent bribery.
5. Communication (including training): Ensure anti-bribery policies are communicated clearly, internally and externally, and provide training where appropriate.
6. Monitoring and review: Regularly review and improve anti-bribery policies.

Are you compliant with the UK Bribery Act?

Now that you have a better understanding of what bribery is and how the act governs it, you can see how important it is to put the government’s “adequate measures” in place in order to prevent bribery from occurring and to defend yourself if required.

Get the anti-bribery training you need to equip yourself and your employees with the knowledge necessary to reduce the risk of bribery. Our straightforward e-learning courses are suitable for all levels, and you can get started by requesting a free trial.

UK Bribery Act: FAQs

Does the UK Bribery Act apply to small businesses?

Yes. The UK Bribery Act applies to businesses of all sizes. However, anti-bribery procedures should be proportionate to the company’s size, structure and level of risk.

What should employees do if they’re offered a bribe?

Staff should follow their organisation's anti-bribery policy and report the offer through the appropriate internal channel.

What’s the difference between bribery and corruption?

Bribery is a form of corruption involving offering, giving, requesting or accepting an advantage to influence someone's actions. Corruption is a broader term that can encompass bribery and other forms of dishonest or improper conduct.

Want to learn more about anti-bribery compliance?

If you’re looking for focused training, browse our bribery prevention courses – we offer a complete solution for your compliance programme, including CPD-certified modules. Our topics include:

• Corrupt Hiring Practices
• Bribery Prevention Refresher Course
• Anti-Bribery and Corruption Training

Our e-learning courses are designed to engage employees, including our microlearning library, which supports knowledge retention.

Our Compliance Portal also features a range of tools to digitise and automate your compliance learning. These include our:

• Learning Management System (LMS)
• Policy Hub
• Compliance Registers
• Compliance Surveys
• Compliance Declarations
• Aida by Skillcast

If you’d like to access leading insights and compliance tips, browse our free resources by topic to find guides, modules, compliance bites and more.