Policy & procedures

Policy & procedures

Under the Bribery Act 2010 (BA 2010) it is an offence to pay or receive a bribe. In addition, BA 2010 includes two offences designed to target commercial bribery:

•
an offence of bribing a foreign public official
•
a separate corporate offence of failure to prevent bribery

The corporate offence can be committed by a commercial organisation where a bribe is paid by a person associated with it with the intention of obtaining or retaining business or business advantage for the organisation—see Practice Notes: The Bribery Act 2010—an introductory guide and Failure to prevent bribery—the offence.

An organisation can also be criminally responsible for a bribery offence committed by a senior manager of the organisation where that senior manager was acting within the scope of their authority—see Practice Notes: How to manage corporate criminal liability

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