The Serious Fraud Office Is Getting Much More 'Serious' On Bribery
The fight against corruption and bribery is quickly becoming the focal point for many governing bodies around the world. As the impact of such business practices creates issues for the public and private sectors, authorities are quickly realizing that this negative impact is getting to be a growing issue. Increased enforcement from both the US and the UK, each a large powerhouse within the global economy, are making companies take an even more extensive look at their operations overseas.
Ben Morgan, the joint head of the Serious Fraud Office in the United Kingdom, had a firm message to any company that has engaged with bribery or corruption directly or has knowledge of 3rd parties facilitating unethical practices on behalf of their company. In an article written by Martin Kenny, of the website FCPA Blog, he identifies the firmness of the message delivered by Mr. Morgan and how direct the message came across to those companies that may be directly affected by it:
“Morgan’s words pulled no punches and carried with them a degree of threat that most lawyers would feel very uncomfortable about. In a nutshell, Morgan told companies to volunteer their misdemeanors or face the full might of the SFO’s prosecution.”
Governments and their enforcement arms are not going to tolerate unethical business practices any longer. The devastating issues the economy can face when corruption and bribery exist are key points that they want to avoid at all cost and will enforce heavily if they find it.
Companies now have to increase their internal resources to make sure this malpractice does not happen. Some have the resources to handle this internally but many do not. Are there ways of handling these issues while still making it a cost effective solution? In short the answer is yes, both from an internal cost savings perspective and to a 3rd party management system. To learn more on how companies can be more aware of how to mitigate this risk by using a proven solution please click here.
