Bribery, Money Laundering & Corruption Flashcards
What is a bribe?
An inducement or reward offered, promised, or provided to gain any commercial, contractual, regulatory, or personal advantage.
What is the Bribery Act 2010 and what are the offences?
The Bribery Act 2010 covers criminal law relating to bribery. The Act contains four main bribery offences:
- Bribing another person.
- Being bribed.
- Bribing a foreign public official.
- Failure by a commercial organisation to prevent bribery.
What are the 6 principles of the Bribery Act?
Proportionality - The action taken should be proportionate to the risk and size of the organisation.
Top level commitment - Those in senior positions are best placed to ensure the organisation conducts business without bribery.
Risk assessment - Many organisations will have little or no risk of bribery, but a risk assessment will show the nature or extent of exposure to bribery.
Due diligence - Due diligence procedures must be applied, taking a proportionate and risk-based approach, with regard to individuals who perform or will perform services on behalf of the organisation.
Communication - Employers will need to communicate their policies and procedures to staff and others who perform services, additional training may help raise awareness (proportionate to the size and type of organisation).
Monitoring and review - As an overarching principle, organisations should monitor and review procedures designed to prevent bribery by persons associated with it and make improvements where necessary.
Who does the Bribery Act 2010 apply to?
Individuals:
1. A British citizen has committed a bribery offence anywhere in the world.
2. A British associate with a connection to the UK, conducts a bribery offence in or outside the UK.
Organisations:
1. The organisation is incorporated in the UK and has committed a bribery offence anywhere in the world,
2. An organisation or partnership that has carried out business in the UK.
What is yours and your companies position for compliance with the Bribery Act 2010?
My company has an anti-bribery and corruption policy which applies to me as an employee, I strictly follow the procedures in the policy.
I would report any act of bribery to the Serious Fraud Office or National Crime Agency.
What are the potential consequences for not adhering to the Bribery Act 2010?
Individuals or organisations convicted of the offences of bribing another, being bribed or bribing a foreign public official can be liable on conviction to unlimited fines, and individuals can receive a jail sentence of up to 10 years. An organisation can be convicted for failure to prevent bribery with the penalty being an unlimited fine.
What is money laundering?
Process by which criminals disguise ownership and control if the proceeds from crime by making them look as though they derive from legitimate source.
How do you report suspicious money laundering behavior?
legally obligated under the Money Laundering Regulations to submit a SAR (suspicious activity report) to the National Crime Agency.
A client asks you to take responsibility for making interim payments to the contractor. The client gives you half a million pounds in cash to make the payments. What would you do in this situation?
I would not accept cash; I would encourage my client to pay the cash into a bank account (the responsibility then rests with the bank to check the legitimacy of the cash).
If I had concerns about the source of the money (from illegal activity for example), I would report the matter to the National Crime Agency.
What is corruption?
The abuse of entrusted power for private gain.
What is a price fixing cartel?
Collection of individual businesses or countries that act together as if they are a single producer, fixing prices their goods or service without competition.
What is terrorist financing?
Collection or provision of funds with the intention to support terrorist acts or organisations.
What is a facilitation payment?
A payment made to a public or government official that acts as an incentive for the official to complete some action or process expeditiously, to the benefit of the party making the payment.
What are the mandatory requirements for RICS members and firms in association with bribery, corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing?
Requirements are detailed in the following professional statements: Countering bribery and corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing - 1st edition February 2019.
What are the mandatory requirements for firms in association to bribery?
Must:
1. Not offer or accept, directly or indirectly, anything into that could constitute a bribe.
- Have plans in place to comply with applicable law relating to bribery and ensure these are followed.
- Report any activity they are aware of that breaches anti-bribery or corruption laws to the relevant authorities, where there is no local legislation, the activity should be recorded, and if possible reported to senior management.
- Act with due diligence to perform periodic written evaluations of the risks that face the firm and may that may lead to the facilitation of bribery and corruption; in determining the appropriate levels of due diligence, the firm may consider the type of business and the environment they operate in.
- retain information detailing how the firm has met the requirements of this professional statement.
