Anti-corruption groups ask Clarke for clarification on UK Bribery Act Guidance

The Bond Group called Clarke the government's 'anti corruption Champion'

Some of the UK's top anti corruption groups have written to the UK's Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke asking for clarification on a number of points relating to the UK Bribery Act, due to come into effect on 1st July, 2011.

The Bond Governance Group, which includes Global Witness and Transparency International UK wrote to Clarke on 16th June, saying that they had "signficant concerns about the Ministry of Justice's interpretation of the Act."

The letter highlighted a number of points, including the question of what companies would be covered under the law. Clarke's guidance on the UK Bribery Act, released in March, said the "mere fact" that a company was listed on a UK exchange was not enough to bring it under the arm of the law.

The Bond Group wants assurance that the Act will be broadly interpreted, so that "all companies listed on UK stock exchanges and foreign companies that operate subsidiaries in the UK" will be covered by the act.

On the question of subsidiaries and joint ventures, the guidance says "a bribe on behalf of a subsidiary by one of its employees and agents will not automatically involve liability on the part of its parent company, or any other subsidiaries of the parent company."

The Bond Group's response to this is that "companies should be held liable for bribes paid by their subsidiaries and joint venture partnerships, even if they benefit only indirectly by virtue of their relationship with them."

As well as raising issues over whistleblower protection and government support for prosecutions, the letter encouraged the government to go further and adopted "a comprehensive cross-Whitehall anti-corruption strategy," pointing out that bribery is only one type of corruption.

Sources: Bond, WSJ

You can read the Bond Group's letter, here.

For more information on the UK Bribery Act, please see the Menas ACCS website, here.