The Bribery Act: The International Dimension

By Barry Vitou, partner at Pinsent Masons LLP, and Richard Kovalevsky, Q.C.

Co-authors of http://thebriberyact.com



Under the United Kingdom’s new Bribery Act, slated to enter into force in 2011, it is an offence to bribe, receive a bribe, bribe a foreign public official and/or fail to prevent bribery. Corporations have a complete defense if they can show that they have put in place "Adequate Procedures" to prevent bribery. Guidance on the defense is expected shortly.



Penalties for violation are harsh, including lengthy custodial sentences, debarment from contracts and unlimited fines.



Merrill Brink International is a leading provider of translation services to the Legal Profession. As part of Merrill Corporation, we provide a full range of services to help clients manage the disclosure process. Our services include e-discovery solutions, case management and hosting, translation, multilingual document review, court presentation and transcription.



To learn more about the impact of The Bribery Act 2011 and the implications for the disclosure process, download your free UK Bribery Act Briefing at http://www.merrillbrinkdeal.com/forms/FO_RE_TRS2?LS=Internet%20Advertising&LSD=SocialMedia&LSFC=701C0000000gDIE&docId=2&FN=Brink_UK_Bribery_Act



About the Authors



Barry Vitou

Vitou is a specialist in corporate risk and assurance. He provides strategic advice to the boards of public and privately held companies on mitigating bribery and corruption risk, anti-money laundering and associated investigations. Vitou represents corporations considering an approach to/or in discussions with, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) with whom he maintains close ties. He acts for clients seeking an agreed civil resolution to identified corruption and fraud with regulators (including the Financial Services Authority [FSA]) and prosecutors in addition to defending clients facing prosecution. He has successfully represented clients subjected to criminal and civil investigation, obtaining negotiated settlements with regulators and prosecution authorities in multiple jurisdictions. He is a regular speaker on reducing corruption risk and the Bribery Act.



Richard Kovalevsky Q.C.

Kovalevsky is a leading criminal law Q.C. and is recommended as leader in his field by Chambers Directory 2010 and is individually mentioned in the Legal 500.



His principal areas of practice are anti-corruption, money-laundering and proceeds of crime confiscation and FSA regulatory and corporate crime. He has appeared as leading counsel in numerous high-profile criminal trials and he has dealt with civil and criminal regulators in jurisdictions all over the world.



He is frequently instructed in cases involving complex issues of public interest immunity or with extensive forensic issues requiring the cross-examination of expert witnesses.





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