We’re not sure who this says more about. British companies who are seeing another loophole closed when doing business in the Asian region or regional businesses and government who rather not have to deal with this issue at all
The UK Telegraph reports
Bribery Act will harm sales to China, warns GlaxoSmithKline
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/pharmaceuticalsandchemicals/8171138/Bribery-Act-will-harm-sales-to-China-warns-GlaxoSmithKline.html
The Bribery Act will handicap British pharmaceutical companies’ efforts to sell to fast-growing countries like China, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has warned the Government.
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Singapore Law Watch writes
Firms sweat over new UK anti-bribery laws
http://www.singaporelawwatch.sg/remweb/legal/ln2/rss/legalnews/69934.html?utm_source=rss%20subscription&utm_medium=rss
Doing business in the United Kingdom will become trickier come April next year when tough new anti-bribery laws take effect.
Singapore-based companies with operations there are already seeking professional advice on how they can stay on the right side of the Bribery Act. They stand to face unlimited fines if anyone linked to them offers favours anywhere in the world in exchange for commercial benefits.
‘We have spoken to more than 10 companies about the Bribery Act from our Singapore office alone and many more throughout our Norton Rose group,’ said Norton Rose (Asia) Of Counsel Wilson Ang.
Some of these corporations are based in Singapore while others are based elsewhere in the region. They come from a variety of industries such as mining, aviation, hospitality and finance, but they all have global operations, ‘oftentimes in challenging developing jurisdictions where corruption can be an issue’, Mr Ang said.
WongPartnership has also received queries from companies and referrals from accounting firms. ‘There is most concern over Section 7 of the UK Bribery Act,’ said partner Joy Tan.
Under this section, a commercial organisation commits a criminal offence if a person associated with it bribes another person to obtain business or a business advantage for it. The organisation may be incorporated in the UK, or it may be incorporated somewhere else but does business in the UK.
The rules – described as ‘draconian’ by some – are keeping companies on edge. For one thing, a firm can be found guilty regardless of where the bribe happens, in the UK or elsewhere. Also, the definition of an associated person is vague – he can be an employee or even an agent, as long as he performs services for the firm.
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Just read this piece by? Stan Abrams? a Beijing-based IP/IT lawyer and law professor to get an idea why this is an issue
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How Many Foreign Companies in China Violated Anti-Bribery Laws Last Month?
http://www.chinahearsay.com/how-many-foreign-companies-in-china-violated-anti-bribery-laws-last-month/
Potentially a very large number, given the holidays and gift giving traditions (mooncakes anyone?). Here?s the issue: corruption is a big problem in China and a lot of emerging market countries. The governments of China, the US, UK etc. are aware of this and have put together tough anti-bribery laws.
China?s enforcement of anti-bribery statutes is variable, but US enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is no joke and has been ramped up considerably over the past few years. US foreign-invested enterprises in China have been tagged on FCPA charges on many occasions, and it?s just going to get worse.
It?s tough when you are doing business in a country with a gift-giving culture. Sure, the most important thing is to keep track of the big stuff, the kinds of payoffs that have led to high profile criminal cases of folks like Huang Guangyu of Gome and Stern Hu of Rio Tinto. This is priority number one.
However, enterprises that do not have an endemic corruption problem sometimes think they are safe and do not set up formal internal policies.? When there is no internal policy and no employee training, what happens? Business as usual happens, which unfortunately sometimes means small gifts to government officials to maintain good relations.
Last month, hundreds of thousands of government officials nationwide received gifts of mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Some of these no doubt came from multinational corporations….
Read full article at link above
