Serious Fraud Office highlights issues under the Bribery Act for private equity
The Director of the Serious Fraud Office, Richard Alderman, gave a speech on 21 June 2011 on “Private equity and the Bribery Act”. The speech can be read here.
Amongst the issues covered in the speech are:
- Which people will be considered “associated” with a private equity firm for the purposes of the Bribery Act 2010 (the Act) section 7 offence of failure of commercial organisations to prevent bribery;
- Who is a “foreign public official” for the section 6 offence of bribery of foreign public officials;
- Due diligence before and after acquisitions, and the self-reporting to the Serious Fraud Office of potential concerns about bribery in an acquired company; and
- The provision of corporate hospitality to senior figures in investor organisations such as large pension funds or Sovereign Wealth Funds.
The speech also raises the possibility that the Serious Fraud Office might produce detailed guidance “if needed” on how the Act and the guidance published on 30 March 2011 by the Ministry of Justice – which we discuss in this post – will apply to particular aspects of private equity investment.
Friendly Corporate PSL
To subscribe for our free weekly update e-mail, click here.
