Bribery & Corruption

For many years it has been an offence to make any gift or other consideration to a public official, or an employee in the private sector as an inducement or reward for that person doing or not doing an act in relation to his principal’s affairs or business. It does not matter whether the bribe is accepted or acted upon.

Since February 2002, it has been illegal to bribe a person even if they have no connection with the UK. This applies in all situations where the bribe constitutes an offence in the UK, even if the act is permitted in the country where it takes place. So, for example, where “facilitation payments” are permitted in other countries, they would still constitute an offence under UK anti-bribery legislation.

The Bribery Act 2010 (“the Act”) consolidated existing bribery legislation and created a new offence of ‘failing to prevent bribery’, which applies to commercial organisations, or those performing services on their behalf. The Act covers bribery both in the UK and overseas. As are result, the Act is highly relevant both to the Club and its Managers, as well as to third parties with whom the Club and its Managers have dealings, e.g. Members, Assureds, correspondents, lawyers and surveyors.

The Act defines four criminal offences:

Giving, promising or offering a bribe
Requesting, agreeing to receive or accepting a bribe
Bribing a foreign public official
Failure by a company to prevent active bribery being committed on its behalf

There is no requirement of ‘fault’ on the part of the commercial organisation in proving an offence under the Act. For example, it does not matter that senior management in an organisation did not participate in, know about, or even suspect that persons associated with the business were giving bribes, an offence may still be committed. It will be a defence for the organisation to demonstrate that it had ‘adequate procedures’ to prevent its associated persons from giving bribes. The offences carry potential criminal penalties for both the Club, its Managers and individuals.

The Club and its Managers are committed to maintaining the highest business standards and has a zero tolerance approach to bribery and corruption. This extends to all business dealings, transactions in all countries and to all business counterparties including any individual or organisation doing business with the Club or its Managers. Please see our Bribery & Corruption Prevention Policy for more details.

How you can help the Club prevent Bribery

All our staff and all who deal with the Club have a responsibility to prevent, detect and report bribery. We provide appropriate guidance to our staff in fulfilling this duty. On these webpages we provide some useful information for our Members, correspondents and service providers.

Should you hold any suspicion of bribery or attempted bribery committed by or against an employee, agent or other party acting on behalf of the Club, it must be reported immediately to Mike Furlepa, Head of Risk & Compliance. Email: [email protected]