Given your strong business ties with France, we believe you will be interested in the latest information on the new UK Bribery Bill, which will affect corporate compliance in UK and French organisations conducting business with the UK once enacted. The Bill has completed its passage through the House of Lords after three readings and is now progressing through the House of Commons.
You will find more information about the striking new changes proposed by the Bill and on how these changes compare with existing French law in the current article by Mathieu Doublet of McGuireWoods LLP, published in the INFO magazine of the French Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain. Possibly the most important feature of the UK Bribery Bill is the creation of a new strict liability offence that allows for heavy fines and criminal sanctions to be imposed against a commercial organisation that fails to prevent bribes being paid for or on its behalf. More information concerning the UK Bribery Bill can be found here.
McGuireWoods LLP has a depth of transatlantic and cross-border experience with anticorruption considerations, including compliance audits (development of standard audit protocols and checklists); internal investigations; compliance programme design and implementation; employee training; M&A due diligence; as well as defence of government inquiries and investigations.
For more information, or to discuss anticorruption related representation by McGuireWoods LLP, please visit our International Fraud/Anticorruption practice.