Bribery is offering, promising or giving a financial or other advantage, or asking for or accepting one, to get a person to perform their job improperly or to reward them for doing so. At work it covers cash, gifts, hospitality, jobs and contracts, for officials and private buyers alike.
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A sales director in a new market pays a local agent a success fee that the agent splits with the official who signs the permit. The invoice says consultancy. The director never meets the official, which is the point.
A procurement manager lets a supplier know that the renewal would go more smoothly after a weekend at the supplier's expense. Nothing is written down. The supplier pays, the renewal is signed, and the gifts register shows nothing.
A relationship manager takes a client's decision maker to the same sporting event every year. The year the tender is open, the invitation extends to the family and the flights go business class. The tender lands a month later.
The Bribery Act 2010 has four offences: bribing (section 1), being bribed (section 2), bribing a foreign public official (section 6) and failing to prevent bribery by an associated person (section 7), where adequate procedures are the only defence. On 1 May 2026 the Serious Fraud Office's deferred prosecution agreement with Ultra Electronics Holdings, on three section 7 counts, carried a financial penalty of GBP 10,083,150 and a three-year term.
Directive (EU) 2026/1021 on combating corruption, published in May 2026, sets minimum offences for bribery in the public and private sectors and liability for companies, which member states must transpose by 1 June 2028; until then national offences apply. Directive 2019/1937 protects anyone who reports a breach of Union law in public procurement, financial services or the prevention of money laundering, among other fields, and once a reporter shows that a detriment followed the report, the employer must prove it had other grounds.
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act bars paying foreign officials to win business. The FCPA Resource Guide of July 2020 gives the hallmarks of an acceptable gift: given openly, properly recorded in the giver's books, provided only to reflect esteem or gratitude, and permitted under local law. In September 2024 Deere & Company paid nearly USD 10 million to settle SEC charges over bribes paid by a Thai subsidiary.
Bribery is managed by making the advantage visible before it is given, and by making the route to report a bribe safer than the deal.
Book a demoA short policy that says what may be given and received, the value above which it is declared, and what is always refused, such as cash and vouchers.
Every gift or invitation above the threshold is entered with the giver, the value, the date and the approval. The register is the first thing an investigator asks for.
Agents, distributors and consultants who act for the organization are the section 7 risk. A due diligence questionnaire before the contract, covering ownership, officials and sanctions, is the proportionate step the Act expects.
Everyone who meets customers, officials or suppliers knows the policy and where to report a request for a bribe, anonymously if they want. The report is the control that works when the others have failed.