Eversheds has launched anti-bribery@work. It’s a new online course aimed at educating directors, managers and employees on the new Bribery Act.
This new law on business bribe-giving and taking, at home and if UK firms do business overseas, is among the topics in the March print issue of Professional Security. Companies that breach the “failing to prevent bribery” provision of the Bribery Act will face unlimited criminal fines. The only defence will be for companies to show that they had “adequate procedures” in place to minimise bribery which will include proving they had provided effective training to employees on anti-corruption and the Bribery Act.
anti-bribery@work is an interactive online learning tool that provides a system for training staff on the requirements of the Bribery Act and other similar legislation elsewhere in the world. The toolkit will help companies communicate anti-bribery policies, educate those most likely to be caught up in bribery or corruption, test employee understanding of anti-bribery issues and importantly help provide a defence to the corporate offence of “failing to prevent bribery”.
Neill Blundell, partner and Head of Fraud at international law firm Eversheds, says: "The UK Bribery Act, which is due to come into force in April, will introduce one of the strictest anti-bribery regimes in the world. It will be essential for all businesses to minimise their risks of bribery and corruption occurring and meet the required standards of ‘adequate procedures’. Such procedures must include adequate training of employees and those acting on behalf of the business. Our anti-bribery@work is an innovative and cost effective on-line training tool that will make it easy for businesses to train staff on the important elements of the Act."
