Bribery Definition

See All Glossary Terms

Related Glossary Terms

Corruption

Related Legislation Acts

Case studies

"We have to become more agile as our clients' expectations and requirements change. The only thing we know is that tomorrow is going to be different and we must be prepared. With ��˾��ҹ��, I feel more confident of that we're ready every time."

Wolverhampton County Council

Access all documents on Bribery

GET ACCESS NOW

GLOSSARY

Published by a ��˾��ҹ�� Commercial expert

What does Bribery mean?

The Bribery Act 2010 consolidated and reformed the law on bribery.

It replaced the offences at common law and under the Prevention of Corruption Acts 1889 - 1916 with two general offences; the first deals with bribery and the second deals with being bribed. The basis of the model is an intention to induce improper conduct.

Commercial

Bribery means dishonestly persuading someone to act in one’s favour by a gift of money or other inducement.

Speed up all aspects of your legal work with tools that help you to work faster and smarter. Win cases, close deals and grow your business–all whilst saving time and reducing risk.

DPA suitability checklist

DPA suitability checklist Court's oversight of the interests of justice and fairness, reasonableness and proportionality The UK deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) regime provides for judicial oversight of DPAs. After negotiations as to the terms of a DPA have commenced and before it has been concluded, the court must determine: • whether it is likely to be in the interests of justice, and • that its proposed terms are fair, reasonable and proportionate Therefore, each factor must be supported by clear and persuasive proof in order to seek to persuade the court to approve the DPA. The declarations given under Schedule 17 Part 1, para 8 to the Crime and Courts Act 2013 (CCA 2013) to date provide insight into the court's approach as to when a DPA is suitable and this has, in turn, fed into the prosecutor's approach (see Practice Note: The SFO's approach to Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs) [Archived]). For detailed information on DPAs in general, the process followed by the court when considering whether to...

Anti-bribery and corruption—monitoring and review—checklist

Anti-bribery and corruption—monitoring and review—checklist Under the Bribery Act 2010 (BA 2010), it is an offence for commercial organisations to fail to prevent bribery. This offence occurs when a person, ‘F’, associated with such an organisation, ‘G’, bribes another person with the intention to obtain or retain business, or an advantage in the conduct of business, for G. For further information on failure to prevent bribery and the penalties for bribery, see Practice Note: Failure to prevent bribery—the offence. It is a defence to a charge of failure to prevent bribery that a commercial organisation had adequate procedures in place to prevent it. The Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ’s) Guidance on The Bribery Act 2010 covers procedures that relevant commercial organisations can put into place to prevent persons associated with them from bribing. Principle 6 of the MoJ Guidance on The Bribery Act 2010, states ‘the commercial organisation monitors and reviews procedures designed to prevent bribery by persons associated with it and makes improvements where necessary’. This monitoring and review Checklist...

Discover our 13 Checklists on Bribery

Active bribery, passive bribery and bribing foreign public officials

The Bribery Act 2010 (BA 2010) criminalises:•bribing another person (active bribery)•soliciting or accepting a bribe (passive bribery)•bribing a foreign public official, and•for a business or commercial organisation only, failing to prevent briberyThe purpose of this Practice Note is to provide a general understanding of the active and passive bribery offences under BA 2010, ss 1, 2 and the offence of bribing a foreign public official under BA 2010, s 6; in short the giving or receiving of bribes. It does not provide a summary of the corporate offence of failing to prevent bribery, which is covered in Practice Note: Failure to prevent bribery—the offence.This Practice Note should be read in conjunction with Practice Note: The Bribery Act 2010—an introductory guide.BA 2010 came into force on 1 July 2011. Conduct committed before the entry into force of BA 2010 is prosecuted under the old law, see Practice Notes: Corruption and common law bribery—pre-Bribery Act 2010 [Archived] and Pre BA 2010 bribery and corruption—Practicalities [Archived].The offences are based on an improper performance...

The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the UK Bribery Act 2010 compared

Background to the Foreign Corrupt Practices ActThe US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is a broad piece of legislation that has been well enforced and embedded since its introduction in 1977. It was introduced to deal with the very widespread problem at the time of US companies paying bribes to foreign governments. The FCPA has two categories of provisions:•anti-bribery provisions—these are narrower than those in the UK Bribery Act 2010 (BA 2010), which entered into force on 1 July 2011, in a number of respects•accounting provisions requiring transparency of accounts in all companies that file a report with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)—these have no equivalent in BA 2010The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act anti-bribery provisionsThe anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA prevent certain company and individuals from corruptly paying, offering, or promising anything of value to a foreign official in order to obtain or retain business. The provisions apply to:•‘issuers’ (companies, US or foreign, with securities listed on a national securities exchange in the US or companies required to...

Discover our 51 Practice Notes on Bribery

Consultancy agreement—company and individual—pro-client (short form)

Consultancy agreement—company and individual—pro-client (short form) [ON HEADED NOTEPAPER OF CLIENT COMPANY] [Insert consultant’s name] [Insert consultant’s address] [Insert date] Dear [insert consultant’s name] [ Consultancy agreement OR Insert name of project ] Further to our recent discussions, I am pleased to confirm the terms of our agreement regarding the provision of your consultancy services to [insert name of client company] (Company). 1 Term 1.1 [Subject to the terms set out in this letter, your engagement [will commence OR commenced] on [insert date] and will continue unless or until either party gives to the other not less than [insert number] [weeks’ OR months’] prior notice in writing. OR 1.2 Your engagement will be for a fixed period of [insert number] months from [insert date], subject to the terms of this letter and subject to the right of either the Company or you to give to the other not less than [number] [weeks’ OR months’] notice in writing during such fixed period terminating the...

Distribution agreement—non-exclusive—short form

Distribution agreement—non-exclusive—short form This Agreement is made on [date] Parties 1 [insert name of party] [of OR a company incorporated in England and Wales under number [insert registered number] whose registered office is at] [insert address] (Manufacturer); and 2 [insert name of party] [of OR a company incorporated in England and Wales under number [insert registered number] whose registered office is at] [insert address] (Distributor); each of the Manufacturer and the Distributor being a party and together they are the parties. Background (A) The Manufacturer manufactures [and supplies] the Products. (B) The Distributor has agreed to distribute the Products on a non-exclusive basis in the Territory in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement. The parties agree: 1 Definitions 1.1 In this Agreement: Active Sales • has the meaning given in Article 8(7) of VABEO; Affiliate • means any entity that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is in under common control with, another entity where “control” means the beneficial ownership of...

Dive into our 85 Precedents related to Bribery

On a relevant transfer under TUPE 2006, does the transferor’s liability for failing to prevent bribery, to the extent that it is not criminal liability, transfer to the transferee?

On a relevant transfer under TUPE 2006, does the transferor’s liability for failing to prevent bribery, to the extent that it is not criminal liability, transfer to the transferee? Bribery Act 2010 The Bribery Act 2010 sets out four offences: • bribing another person (also known as active bribery) • soliciting or accepting a bribe (also known as passive bribery) • bribing a foreign public official, and • failure of a commercial organisation to prevent bribery by an 'associated person' for its benefit For further information, see Practice Note: Bribery Act 2010: essentials for employment lawyers. The first three offences above apply to individuals and companies. The offence of failure to prevent bribery applies only to relevant commercial organisations. For information on the offence of failing to prevent bribery, see Practice Note: Bribery Act 2010: essentials for employment lawyers—Failure of commercial organisations to prevent bribery. See the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) Guidance on adequate procedures facilitation payments and business expenditure and the following documents (referred to in...

If a company self-reports a corrupt transaction but withholds details of other incidences of bribery, will the SFO give them the benefit of having self reported?

If a company self-reports a corrupt transaction but withholds details of other incidences of bribery, will the SFO give them the benefit of having self reported? Commercial organisations which have identified involvement in corruption, whether directly or by an associated person, should seek expert advice before contacting the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) with a view to self reporting, both for advice about conducting an internal investigation and in respect of the consequences of so doing. In particular, any outcome which involves criminal proceedings is likely to be open to active judicial intervention. The Bribery Act 2010 (BA 2010) does not impose a specific duty on a Relevant Commercial Organisation (RCO) to report actual or suspected bribery. However, RCOs will, in that event, wish to consider whether they should do so; the designated organisation to report to is the SFO. RCOs should also consider whether particular cases require reporting separately under section 330 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA 2002) or the Money...

See the 3 Q&As about Bribery

FCA set to get enforcement boost from new fraud offence

Law360, London: The new 'failure to prevent' fraud offence that comes into force in September 2025 will indirectly boost the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA’s) opportunities for enforcement against corporate senior managers, countering its recent retreat from plans to 'name and shame' companies it is investigating, lawyers say.

SFO launches £3m bribery investigation into data centre construction contracts

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has launched an international bribery investigation into UK company Blu-3 and former associates of Mace Group regarding alleged bribes exceeding £3m related to a Microsoft data centre construction project in the Netherlands. On 30 April 2025, the SFO executed searches at five properties across London, Kent, Surrey and Somerset, making three arrests. The operation included a coordinated premises search in Monaco. The investigation, supported by the National Crime Agency (NCA), involves allegations of bribery payments made by Blu-3 individuals to former Mace Group associates. The Solicitor General attended one arrest in North London.

Read the latest 26 News articles on Bribery

Top

Trial