As if general counsel in the U.S. don’t already have their hands full with the vigorous prosecution of bribery cases, now the United Kingdom is joining in. The U.K.’s new Bribery Act lets British prosecutors charge any international company with a business presence in the U.K. for corrupt practices that take place anywhere in the world. The law, which goes into effect later this year, even makes it a crime for a corporation to fail to prevent bribery.
Richard Alderman, the head of the U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office, which investigates corrupt business practices, has said in public statements that he intends to pursue an aggressive interpretation of the new law. While Alderman couldn’t be reached for comment, he has discussed the new law in several public statements, including at a December briefing at the Washington, D.C., office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
