Leading anti-bribery group says the UK has caved in to pressure from the business community and corrupt practices will continue
A anti-bribery lobby group has severely criticised the official guidance to the Bribery Act published by the UK Government in March.
The organisation said that the guide undermines key features of the Act, which will come into force in July.
According to Transparency International UK, parts of the guidance indicate that the Government has surrendered to the business lobbyists, which could allow corrupt practices to continue.
Regarding the official guidance, Chandrashekhar Krishnan, executive director of the organisation stated: “parts of it read more like a guide on how to evade the act.”
Transparency international, maintains that there are several loopholes created by the guide that weaken the Bribery Act.
On their website (www.transparency.org.uk) the group uses the example of a non-UK company listed on the London Stock Exchange: “This company would not be automatically caught by the Bribery Act.”
“This means that a) it could use capital raised in the UK to pay bribes overseas, and b) a UK-based company that loses a contract to a non-UK company listed on the LSE which paid a bribe to win the contract, may have no recourse in the UK courts,” according to Transparency International.
