Bribery Act 2010: Lords Committee continues to take evidence

The inquiry is tasked with examining: the effectiveness of the Bribery Act 2010; whether there has been stricter prosecution of corrupt conduct, a higher conviction rate, and a reduction of such conduct; the impact of the Act on SMEs; and the use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements in relation to bribery offences.

Giving evidence to the Committee at 10.30am will be:  

• Cecilia Müller Torbrand, Program Director, Maritime Anti-Corruption Network
• Mark Jackson, CEO, Baltic Exchange
• Tim Springett, Policy Director, UK Chamber of Shipping

Questions are likely to include:

• How often do you think the British shipping industry encounters bribery in their day-to-day shipping operations?
• What are the biggest challenges in terms of anti-corruption prevention facing the shipping industry? 
• How does the shipping industry deal with countries where demands for ‘facilitation payments' are more common?
• What does the Government currently do to assist shipping companies with understanding and complying with the Bribery Act 2010?

Giving evidence to the Committee at 11.30am will be:

• Brook Horowitz, CEO, IBLF Global
• Dominic Le Moignan, Director, GovRisk
• Phil Mason, Senior Anti-corruption Adviser, DfID

Questions are likely to include: 

• Have UK exporters and their sub-contractors developed effective anti-bribery policies as a result of the Bribery Act?
• Has the Bribery Act deterred British companies from exporting abroad, or otherwise harmed their competitiveness in relation to companies from countries with less stringent anti-bribery measures?
• Given that the Bribery Act makes no allowances for facilitation payments, how can exporters deal with situations in which they might face various, sometimes subtle, forms of coercion to pay bribes?
• How does the Bribery Act compare with equivalent legislation in other countries?

The evidence session will start at 10.30am in Committee Room 4 on Tuesday 30 October 2018.