The Bribery Act 2010

The Bribery Act (BA) became law in the UK on 8 April 2010 after decades of work to update the anti-bribery laws in the state which are perceived to be archaic, ineffective and not in line with the demands of the modern global economy. The BA covers bribery globally, redefines the substantive criminal facets of bribery and creates a new bribery offence with liability for institutions when its representatives or employees partake in bribery domestically or overseas. As lack of knowledge of the new Act is not a defence to a bribery offence, it would be beneficial for corporations to update their understanding of this issue to facilitate an effective update of their compliance procedures.