David Lepperd of The Sunday Times reported on 5 February 2012:

Comments by Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke ‘inadequately address the risk of corruption’. Key parts of the coalition’s plans to crack down on corporate criminality have been branded too “lenient” by an influential international watchdog.

According to a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) seen by The Sunday Times, recent government action to tackle bribery — and comments by the justice secretary, Kenneth Clarke — “inadequately address the risk of corruption”.

The 65-page report, prepared by a panel of OECD “examiners” from France and South Africa, criticises Clarke’s statement last year that businesses should be allowed to entertain clients at events such as the Wimbledon tennis championships, rugby matches at Twickenham or the British Grand Prix.

His comment “fails to note that the risk of corruption substantially increases where the recipient is a public official”, the watchdog says. It adds that examples provided by Clarke in his guidance on last year’s Bribery Act over acceptable business hospitality actually present a “high risk of corruption”.

It also criticises Clarke’s guidance that paying for flights and accommodation for foreign public officials to meet British bosses in New York is acceptable. It says this represents an “unadvisable, high risk activity”.

It says the decision in some cases to fine companies such as BAE Systems rather than press criminal charges is “unsound” and that announcements about civil settlements against companies admitting overseas bribery are “opaque, lack accountability and fail to instil public and judicial confidence”.

The OECD examiners also complain that British whistleblowers seeking to expose corrupt practices inside their firms are given insufficient protection and that progress by the coalition to crack down on bribery in British overseas territories is “glacial”.

The report is a blow to the government, which has vowed to take a leading role in the global fight against bribery, and to Clarke, who has been made Britain’s international anti-corruption “champion” by David Cameron.  The Ministry of Justice rejected the report’s claims. “This is a draft document which misunderstands the steps we have taken to tackle bribery,” it said.

Lombard Chambers is able to help any Indian commercial organisation that has a business presence in the UK to review and implement anti-bribery procedures and policies through its online Bribery Act Compliance Training Package. With experts based in both India and the UK, Lombard Chambers is well placed to conduct a risk assessment of your organisation and customise the online training to incorporate images, graphics and terminology that would immediately resonate with your employees. Lombard Chambers will also review the content of the training to ensure it is relevant to your industry  and additional scenarios or ‘lessons’ can also be developed to help employees spot potential red flags in situations that they can relate to.

Indian companies that frequently invest in the USA or the UK are required to implement adequate compliance measures in accordance with the broad scope of the Bribery Act, which came into force on 1 July 2011. Under the Act, the failure by a commercial organisation to prevent its employees, agents or subsidiaries from engaging in bribery can result in an unlimited fine and criminal liability, with a conviction of imprisonment for up to 10 years.

Although, the anti-corruption legislation in India has been on the statute books since 1988, successful prosecutions resulting in imprisonment have been rare and thus fines imposed for corruption offences in India have seldom served as a deterrent. However, now that the Bribery Act has come into force, Indian companies, particularly those with cross-border ambitions, will need to build into their business operations an overarching anti-bribery framework that is cascaded to staff at all levels.

Indian companies also need to take into account there is now increased vigilance by international enforcement agencies, such as the UK Serious Fraud Office and the US Department of Justice, to detect acts of bribery and bring about successful prosecution. Lombard Chambers, with experts in India and the UK, can engage training to help embed anti-bribery policies and procedures throughout your entire organisation. We have the ideal solution for quickly and efficiently communicating clear messages across a broad and diverse employee workforce.

Lombard Chambers Bribery Act Compliance Training provides a complete audit trail of who has completed the training and more importantly, identify those who have not completed the training and who could therefore present a risk to your business. A demo of our generic training package which can be tailored to meet your specific requirements is available by clicking here.