Leading corporate law firm William Fry warned over 100 business professionals that anti-bribery and corruption laws in Ireland and elsewhere are tightening up and that a more proactive and rigorous approach to combating corporate bribery and corruption is now in place.
Speaking at the Firm’s Breakfast Briefing on, ‘Stopping the Rot – Recent Developments in Anti-Bribery and Corruption Law in Ireland and the UK’, John Handoll, Head of EU & Competition law at William Fry stated that, “ Although Ireland is a relatively clean jurisdiction from a bribery and corruption viewpoint ranking 14th globally and 9th in Europe, Ireland has not been immune from serious cases. With legislation continuing to tighten up, companies need to review their policies and procedures in Ireland and foreign jurisdictions where they do business to ensure that they are not falling foul of the law.”
He explained that “each year, the economy is subject to serious loss due to bribery and corruption. The World Bank estimates that 1% of global GDP is lost to corruption. The European Commission estimates that 0.5% of EU-wide GDP is lost. The need to tackle these figures is long overdue and now, there is a very real commitment to detecting and enforcing bribery and corruption laws.”
From a business viewpoint, John Handoll commented that “it is extremely important for businesses to review the way in which they work and the legal exposure in the places in which they conduct business. Companies should design and implement anti-corruption policies and practices as part of their compliance portfolio. Stringent penalties include unlimited fines for companies and, for individuals, up to 10 years in prison. Where an offence has been committed by a corporate body, complicit directors and managers are also liable. Suspects can be arrested without a warrant and, if convicted, directors face disqualification.”
Within Ireland a patchwork of statutes cover bribery and corruption laws, John Handoll pointed to the important changes introduced by the 2010 Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, which included important new provisions on bribery of foreign officials. “The Act has introduced ‘whistle-blower’ protection for persons, including employees, reporting offences. Provided they act in good faith, such persons are to have no liability for damages for saying that an offence may have been or is being committed. In turn, employers are guilty of an offence where they penalise or threaten to penalise employees.” “The Criminal Justice Act 2011 has introduced an offence of withholding information which will increase the chances of detecting white-collar crime, including bribery and corruption”, John Handoll noted.
John Handoll added that “contrary to some public perceptions, there has been an increase in detection and prosecutions. These are likely to increase with the strengthened legislation and the newly-apppointed DPP – Claire Loftus – would be likely to act with even greater vigour”.
Guest speaker at the William Fry breakfast briefing, Jonathan Branton, Partner in Cobbetts LLP, highlighted the new bribery and corruption legislation in the UK and how it applies to Irish businesses with operations in the UK.
“Irish businesses conducting any form of business in the UK are subject to heavy penalties where they breach the UK Bribery Act 2010. Companies found to be in breach of the Act will face heavy fines, with individuals facing fines and / or imprisonment of up to 10 years as well as director disqualification”. Jonathan Branton pointed to the new offence of failure by a commercial organisation to prevent bribery and added that “compliance is about common sense, not burdensome procedures. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to compliance but the UK Ministry of Justice Guidance places much emphasis on being able to demonstrate a proactive approach to combating bribery. Compliance guidance is based on six principles – proportionate procedures, top level commitment, risk assessment, due diligence, communication and training, and monitoring and review.”
For further information, please contact:
Sinead Hennebry, Head of Marketing, William Fry
Tel: +353 1 639 5000
For further information on William Fry’s series of breakfast briefings, please go to www.williamfry.ie
