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ACRC publishes Korean translation of UK Bribery Act

  • Date2014-05-12
  • Hit5,024
On March 31, the ACRC published the Korean translation of the Bribery Act 2010 of the UK, recognized as one of the most comprehensive and toughest anti-bribery laws in the world. The translated version includes the full text of the UK Bribery Act, which was enacted in April 2010, and the Guidance drawn up by the UK Ministry of Justice to help commercial organizations to better understand the Act.

The Bribery Act 2010 was enacted in April 2010 by repealing the existing "Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act" and "Prevention of Corruption Act" and incorporating the provisions scattered in the relevant laws. The Act entered into force on July 1, 2011.

The sanctions against bribery offences under the Act are more severe and its scope of application is much broader than the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of the US or the Act on Preventing Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions of Korea.

The Act bans commercial organizations running business in the UK from bribing a public official of the UK or foreign countries directly or through an employee, agent, subsidiary or overseas branch. Furthermore, it prohibits even bribery between commercial organizations. Most notably, while the FCPA only applies to the companies listed in the US, the Bribery Act 2010 is applicable to any companies running a business in the UK.

The Act also prohibits "facilitation payments," while the acts of Korea and the US provide exemption for small sums of money paid to foreign public officials to facilitate routine governmental action.

The most innovative provision of the Act is commercial organizations' liability to prevent bribery. When a commercial organization fails to prevent its associated persons such as employee, agent or subsidiary from committing bribery, it will be liable to prosecution. To have a full defense, the commercial organization must prove that it had "adequate procedures" in place to prevent persons associated with it from bribing.

An individual or organization guilty of a bribery offence under the UK Bribery Act will face considerably harsh punishmenta term not exceeding 10 years, or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or both. The penalty of the US law is either imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or a fine not exceeding USD 100,000. The act of Korea stipulates that a person who committed bribery is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or to a fine not exceeding KRW 20 million, and a commercial organization faces a fine not exceeding KRW 1 billion. Moreover, in Korea, should the proceeds of corruption exceed a certain amount of money, the fine may increase up to two-fold.

The Guidance of the Bribery Act 2010 presents 6 principles, which are specific procedures put in place by commercial organizations wishing to prevent bribery, including procedures proportionate to bribery risks, top-level commitment, assessment of potential risks of bribery, and due diligence. The Guidance also gives specific cases that such principles apply to.

The Korean translation of the Bribery Act 2010 was published with support from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The ACRC is planning to distribute the translated version to not only local public and private companies but also Korean companies running a business in the UK, to help them to better understand and avoid the risks of corruption and bribery. The Korean translation of the UK Bribery Act 2010 can also be downloaded from the ACRC official website (www.acrc.go.kr).