Bribery Act

Definition:

The UK Bribery Act 2010 which establishes the criminal offenses of paying a bribe and receiving a bribe and the corporate criminal offense of failure to prevent a bribe by associated persons. Special provisions relate to foreign public officials and payments made or received outside the United Kingdom, which may be within the jurisdiction of the Bribery Act.

Until the Bribery Act came into force, international anti-corruption enforcement was largely dominated by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Similar to the FCPA, the Bribery Act has extra-territorial jurisdiction. Compared to the FCPA, the Bribery Act is generally broader in scope. For example, the Bribery Act covers bribery at a private level, whereas the FCPA does not. The FCPA only covers active bribery, whereas the Bribery Act prohibits both active and passive bribery (i.e., the taking of a bribe). The demand side of bribery is now covered by the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA). The FCPA creates an exemption for facilitation payments, whereas the Bribery Act makes no such exemption.

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