There is increasing global enforcement of anti-bribery and corruption laws and the consequences imposed can be severe, including significant penalties and reputational damage. Businesses can be liable for the actions of their employees and agents under Australian and foreign laws including under the laws of third party countries. This collection of resources includes Australian and foreign cases that have involved civil and criminal foreign bribery enforcement action against companies and senior corporate office holders. Comprehensive lists of enforcement actions by the United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office and under the US Foreign Corruption Practices Act, are included. These cases highlight the serious consequences that can result when businesses do not take active steps to prevent foreign bribery.
Category: Offences & Enforcement
This document outlines supporting resources to accompany the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Combatting Foreign Bribery) Act 2024, which introduced a new corporate offence for failing to prevent bribery of foreign public officials and requires businesses to have "adequate procedures" to prevent such conduct. It serves as a companion to the Attorney General's Adequate Procedure Guide, offering practical resources to help businesses implement these principles effectively.
The Crimes Legislation Amendment (Combatting Foreign Bribery) Act 2024 came into effect on 8 March 2024 and introduced a new corporate offence of failing to prevent foreign bribery.
Guidance on adequate procedures to prevent the commission of foreign bribery
by Attorney-General's Department
The Crimes Legislation Amendment (Combatting Foreign Bribery) Act 2024 came into effect on 8 March 2024 and introduced a new corporate offence of failing to prevent foreign bribery. This resource outlines the steps corporations can take to establish an effective anti-bribery compliance program and suggests types of controls to consider when implementing such a program. The guidance sets out 6 elements to assist corporations in establishing ‘adequate procedures’.
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.
Australia tales a whole-of-government approach to combatting foreign bribery. This page outlines the roles of Australian agencies tasked with responding to foreign bribery and the responsibilities of each agency.
Foreign bribery is a serious offence attracting significant penalties. Under section 70.2 of the Criminal Code, individuals face a fine of up to AUD$2.2 million and 10 years imprisonment for the bribery of foreign public officials. Companies face even larger fines including up to 10% of their annual turnover. There are also offences for related misconduct, such as false accounting and money laundering.