Complying with the UK Bribery Act 2010

The UK Bribery Act came into force on 1st July 2011. This stringent piece of legislation – one of the most radical and far-reaching pieces of UK legislation in modern times – will take the UK from being a jurisdiction with archaic anti-corruption laws, which have been the subject of international criticism, to a jurisdiction having bribery legislation which exceeds even the severity of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The legislation poses some very significant operational and management issues for any organisation based or operating in the UK and you will need to fundamentally re-evaluate your method of operation and business model both in the UK and overseas.

Why you should attend

By attending this seminar, you will:

• Understand further the implications of the impact of the Bribery Act 2010 on your organisation
• Hear explanations of exactly what a bribe is considered to be under the Act
• Learn about the role of the Proceeds of Crime Act
• Find out more about the FCPA and its interplay with the new UK Act
• Get-to-grips with the data-protection related issues including the ‘speak-up procedures’
• Be prepared to set up or improve your Risk Assessment Programme for Bribery Act Compliance

Who should attend?

• In-house lawyers
• Compliance officers
• Financial directors
• Executive and non-executive directors
• Private practice lawyers

Introduction to the seminar and background to the Act

• Government policy and the Section 7 Corporate Offence
• Corporate hospitality and other business expenditure
• The role of the SFO
• Jurisdiction issues
• Definition of associated persons
• Facilitation payments
• Policies and procedures

What is a bribe?

• Practical examples
• The interplay between the Bribery Act and Proceeds of Crime Act
• Enforcement
• The pros and cons of self-reporting
• Predictions for the next 12 months

Lessons to be learnt from the experience of ten years’ of legislation in the USA

• Current US anti-corruption law
• Comparison with UK law
• FCPA and Bribery Act compared

Setting up a risk assessment programme for Bribery Act compliance

• The importance of selecting an outside party to work with management
• Look at the company as a whole using a risk-based approach
• Interview executive management; local management etc
• Review all third party agents
• Implementing practical and sustainable controls
• Targeting high-risk areas in order to mitigate risks

WORKSHOP – Data protection related issues of monitoring and reporting

• Data protection implications of the application of the defence
• Responsibilities associated with collection of information and local law
• The ‘speak-up’ procedures and international issues
• Potential conflicts during investigations

WORKSHOP – A practical approach to resolving your anti-bribery issues

• Pro-active prevention. Practical solutions for prevention and detection
• Detecting kickbacks and other forms of corruption
• Analysis of key bribery cases. What were the Red Flags which should have been spotted by senior management in these cases and why did management fail so woefully in this respect?
• Taking a civil fraud case from start to finish: how and what can you recover when your company has suffered losses from bribery and corruption?

Chair

Monica Bond, BA, LLB, FCIS, ACA, MAE, CFA is regarded as a foremost expert in anti-money laundering issues and fraud. Monica is both a solicitor and Chartered Accountant as well as a Certified Fraud Examiner. She has been the Managing Director of Bond Associates since its formation in 1999, but her experience as a forensic accountant goes back more than 20 years. In 1994 Monica was the author of the Accountants Digest on Money Laundering, published by the Institute of Chartered Accountants. Since that time she has become a leading expert on antimoney
laundering policy and procedures. She has lectured throughout the world, particularly in South America where she lectured on behalf of the US Treasury and most recently in the Middle East. In 1996 Monica created The Bond Partnership – a regulated Chartered Accountancy practice, which continued until 2003 when her specialist work in forensic accountancy led to her concentrating on the activities of Bond Associates Limited. Monica is also a solicitor and principal of Bond Solicitors.

Expert panel

Robert Bond is a Partner in the IP, Technology and Commercial Team at Speechly Bircham. He has over 30 years’ experience in advising national and international clients on all of their commercial IP, technology and data protection requirements. Robert specialises in data, technology and information law and has market-leading expertise in a number of specialist sectors including computer games and digital media where he is an acknowledged industry expert. Robert’s clients cover a wide spectrum from small businesses to major US-based multi-nationals. Much of Robert’s
work involves advising clients on the development, identification, protection and commercialization of their IP assets; ranging from advising on IT contracts, outsourcing and franchising to ensuring adherence to requisite global information security compliance and data protection requirements.

Lisa Kate Osofsky is Regulatory Advisor, Corporate Investigations at Control Risks in London. Lisa advises international firms on anti-corruption strategies, anti-money laundering programmes and fraud cases. Her work combines specialist knowledge in anti-corruption, white collar crime and anti-money laundering matters. Lisa has represented the UK as co-Vice Chair of the Anti- Corruption Committee of the International Bar Association. Prior to joining Control Risks, Lisa was Executive Director of the Business Intelligence Group and the MLRO at Goldman Sachs International (GSI) in London. At GSI, Lisa managed a team of professionals responsible for assessing reputational risk and the money laundering vulnerabilities faced by GSI in Europe, Asia, South Africa and Australia. Lisa served as the Deputy General Counsel and Special Assistant to the General Counsel of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). At the FBI, Lisa worked on criminal and intelligence operations throughout the world.

Jonathan Whitehead is a Partner at Speechly Bircham and a member of the Commercial Dispute Resolution Team. Jonathan specialises in dispute resolution and has been involved in substantial contract, partnership and corporate disputes, professional negligence, class actions and financial services litigation. He has been described as ‘very commercial’ in Legal 500 2010. In addition, Jonathan leads the banking team in defending claims against the firm’s banking clients across a wide range of financial service and regulatory issues.

Barry Vitou is a partner in the London office of Pinsent Masons, specialising in corporate risk and assurance leading our Corporate Crime Team. He provides strategic advice to the Boards of public and privately held companies on mitigating bribery and corruption risk, anti-money laundering and associated investigations. Barry represents corporates considering an approach to, or in discussions with, the Serious Fraud Office with whom he maintains close ties. Barry acts for clients seeking an agreed civil resolution to identified corruption and fraud in addition to defending clients facing prosecution. He is a regular speaker on reducing corruption risk and the Bribery Act. He co-authors the briberyact.com, the leading free on-line resource for the UK Bribery Act, with Richard Kovalevsky QC, renowned silk for corporate crime.

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This course qualifies for the following CPD programmes:

• Solicitors Regulation Authority: 6.00 hours

• Calor Gas Ltd
• Control Risks Group
• Dana Petroleum
• Hogg Robinson Group plc
• Lotus Cars Ltd
• National Union of Teachers
• SAP UK Ltd
• Xellia Pharmaceuticals ApS