COMPANIES have been warned not to become caught up in bribery scandals when new legislation comes into force.

When the UK Bribery Act comes into force in April, firms could face unlimited fines if they have failed to put safeguards in place to prevent bribes being made on their behalf, even if they had no prior knowledge.

The Bribery Act introduces the offence of “corporate failure to prevent bribery”, which means that the authorities no longer have to prove those in management knew about bribery, only that they did not have rules in place to prevent it.

Chris Lauder, a director in the business process and risk consulting team of Deloitte, in Newcastle, said: “The Serious Fraud Office is stepping up its efforts to fight bribery and corruption and it will have at its disposal new and more easily applied offences.

“One important new offence for companies is failing to prevent a bribe being made on its behalf by an associated person, including employees, agents, distributors, joint venture partners and subsidiaries.

“A defence available for a company charged with the corporate offence is to demonstrate that it has in place adequate procedures designed to prevent persons associated with it from committing bribery.”

The Ministry of Justice published draft guidelines in September on what constitutes adequate procedures for businesses to include.

Mr Lauder said: “Complying with the provisions of the Act will require specific changes and additions to existing processes and procedures.

“As a starting point, organisations should be undertaking an assessment of their corruption risks.

“If one of your employees or agents was charged with committing bribery would you feel comfortable explaining to the UK enforcement authorities that you hadn’t considered this risk in your business.”

As a minimum, Mr Lauder believed anti-bribery and corruption procedures needed to include risk analysis, clear guidelines on responsibility, regular training for staff and procedures and controls covering gifts, hospitality, political and charitable contributions.

Firms also need to have a response plan to deal efficiently with incidents of potential corruption.