Protect your business, comply with laws and effectively address bribery and corruption.
This collection of resources proposes steps to take when instances of bribery or corruption occur, or when there are near misses. Develop your business’ understanding of what has occurred and promote a culture of action, self-reporting, remedy and organisational learning.
This legislation proposes to strengthen Australia’s enforcement response to foreign bribery. It will introduce a new corporate offence for failure to prevent an associate (such as an employee, agent or subsidiary) from bribing a foreign public official and introduces a Commonwealth deferred prosecution agreement scheme for specified corporate offences related to bribery and other financial crimes.
The Bribery Prevention Network held a side event at the Africa Down Under Conference on critical legislative, judicial and policy updates in the anti-bribery and corruption space that will have implications for Australian businesses operating at home and in Africa.
The session highlighted practical tools and resources for Australian business to prevent, detect and address bribery and corruption and promote a culture of compliance.
Authorities in the United Kingdom (UK) can investigate and prosecute foreign bribery that took place outside of the UK. This includes where UK citizens are involved, if some of the conduct occurred in the UK or for foreign companies that 'carry out business or part of a business', or are listed in the UK. This portal puts you in touch with the correct authorities in the UK if you wish to report foreign bribery. An A-Z of company cases is included.
United States (US) authorities investigate and prosecute foreign bribery that takes place outside of the US, including where US citizens are involved, where payments are in US dollars and where companies are 'issuers' in US capital markets. This policy sets out the US Department of Justice's policy for giving significant discounts in penalty and circumstances in which authorities may not prosecute. Scroll down to view.
Exporters need to be aware of the risks of bribery and corruption in international transactions and requirements to comply with laws in multiple jurisdictions. Bribery committed outside Australia can be captured under Australian laws and have serious consequences. Export Finance Australia provides useful links to assist exporters in understanding their obligations to comply with relevant laws against bribery and corruption.
In 2015 Standard Bank PLC entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Serious Fraud Office in the United Kingdom to pay penalties of over US$25 million and US$7 million of compensation in connection with its role in an equity raising in Tanzania. The case highlights the risks of using agents to help win government contracts.
As Australia's corporate, markets and financial services regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is cable of receiving reports of misconduct. This resource outlines how ASIC assesses reports of misconduct, what it does with such reports, how it communicates with a person who makes a misconduct report, and other issues including confidentiality and whistleblowing. It also includes a link on how to report misconduct to ASIC.
The United Kingdom's Serious Fraud Office provides an index of publicly listed enforcement actions, including matters related to foreign bribery. Access brief overviews of bribery-related cases that include the nature of the investigation, date of the investigation announcement, status of the case and associated case press releases. Cases are classified under criminal investigations, proceeds of crime, and deferred prosecution agreements.
A useful and simply laid out tool that offers suppliers guidance on developing a site-based grievance mechanism for their workers. This resource applies the United Nations Guiding Principles effectiveness criteria for grievance mechanisms to clearly illustrate good practice in implementing such mechanisms, that align with universally accepted standards. Although tailored to the retail industry, this resource is useful for other sectors with complex supply chains.
This practical guide offers support to businesses in the resource development industry to design and implement site-level grievance mechanisms. It includes solutions to common challenges, including, building community awareness of and trust in site-level grievance mechanisms, creating organisational buy-in to make these mechanisms effective, and growing an internal culture to support the resolution of grievances.
This easy to read resource explains the importance of operational-level grievance mechanisms for businesses and offers good practice guidance on effective grievance management. While specific to the mining and metals sector, this guidance is applicable to other sectors. The use of case studies, a glossary and infographics makes this resource an excellent entry point to learning about effective operational-level grievance mechanisms.
Part of a comprehensive toolbox on human rights duties developed for the Federal Institute of Sustainable Development (Belgium), this resource offers an accessible introduction to operational-level grievance mechanisms. Learn how such mechanisms can support your business to identify potential human rights risks and impacts stemming from your business operations. This resource includes extensive links to useful grievance frameworks and mechanisms. Published in English, French and Dutch.
In 2019 the Serious Fraud Office in the United Kingdom (UK) entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with a small UK resources sector company concerning bribery in South Korea. The company was required to disgorge its profits from the bribery but did not receive a penalty because of its small size and the fact that it had thoroughly investigated and self-reported the issues.
The United States (US) Department of Justice has an extensive track record of enforcing foreign bribery matters, including against companies that are not registered in the US. This site shows the Department of Justice's foreign bribery enforcement track record.
The United States (US) Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) is the regulator for companies that are listed in, or raise capital in, the US. It frequently brings enforcement action against companies for 'books and records' offences related to foreign bribery under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. This resource includes an annotated list of enforcement actions under this Act.