In April 2010, the United Kingdom enacted the Bribery Act 2010 which revamped its legislative scheme of bribery offences. The Bribery Act establishes a specific offence of bribery of foreign public officials (Section 6) and general bribery offences that cover both the demand-side and supply-side of bribery (Sections 1 and 2). Notably, these provisions apply to both bribery of government officials and commercial bribery. Additionally, the Act establishes a new offence of failure to prevent bribery, whereby commercial companies can be held liable for bribery that their associates commit unless the companies had adequate procedures in place to prevent bribery (Section 7). Finally, Section 14 establishes an offence for certain senior officers of a body corporate or partnership, when the body corporate or partnership commits a bribery offence with the consent or connivance of the relevant senior officer. The UK Bribery Act entered into force in July 2011.
Source: OECD Working Group on Bribery Phase 1ter report of the United Kingdom, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/23
In 2016, France adopted the Law on transparency, combating corruption and the modernization of economic life, known as the SAPIN II Act. The SAPIN II Act first strengthened the preventive aspect of France’s anti-corruption system, in particular through the introduction of an obligation for large companies to set up anti-corruption programmes, with sanctions imposed for non-compliance, and of a general regime for whistle-blowers. The SAPIN II Act also created the French Anti-Corruption Agency (AFA), which is mandated to assist public and private stakeholders in preventing and detecting “bribery, influence peddling, extortion by public officials, illegal taking of interests, misappropriation of public funds and favoritism”. In addition, the SAPIN II Act introduced new enforcement measures, including an additional penalty requiring companies convicted of bribery to implement a compliance programme (Criminal Code, Art. 131-39-2), the Public Interest Judicial Agreement (CJIP), a non-trial resolution intended to allow for more efficient and timely processing of enforcement actions initiated against legal persons for certain economic offences including domestic and foreign bribery offences (Code of Criminal Procedure, Art. 41-1-2), and an offence of influence peddling in relation to foreign public officials (Criminal Code, Art. 435-2).
Sources: Working Group on Bribery, France’s Phase 4 Monitoring Report, https://www.oecd.org/en/topics/anti-corruption-and-integrity.html
and its press release; https://web-archive.oecd.org/temp/2021-12-16/619556-france-s-achievements-in-the-fight-against-foreign-bribery-need-to-be-preserved-through-legislative-reforms-and-a-reinforcement-of-resources.htm
French Act No. 2016-1691 of 9 December 2016 on transparency, combating corruption and the modernisation of economic life : https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000033558528
(SAPIN II Act); French Anti-Corruption Agency (May 2023): https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000033558528
Presentation of various regulatory frameworks for promoting business integrity across the world: URL https://www.agence-francaise-anticorruption.gouv.fr/files/2023-05/AFA%27s%20Presentation%20FR%20UK%20US%20WBG%20Standards_May%202023_English%20version.pdf
