Despite the new Bribery Act coming into force on the first of July, one in seven people who work in large organisations are prepared to offer cash bribes in a bid to secure business. Furthermore, nearly 50% are not aware of an anti-bribery policy in the company.
Ernst & Young’s European fraud survey for 2011 discovered that the majority of UK companies are still not prepared for the new regulations and their compliance programmes underperform significantly.
John Smart, Ernst & Young’s leader of Fraud Investigation & Disputes Services, said these findings should concern company directors. The lack of understanding about bribery, corruption and fraud among employees, coupled with cost-cutting initiatives, will create an additional risk of bribery and fraud.
However, UK managers are less inclined to offer bribes than a lot of their European counterparts. 72% of British management would not be prepared to offer bribes under any circumstances, compared to the European average of 51%.
The survey also discovered that employees hold the board of directors and senior management accountable for instigating and imposing the appropriate corporate behaviour. More than 75% of respondents said boards should be personally liable for bribery, corruption and fraud in their organisation.
Smart pointed out that an organisation does not have an effective business strategy unless all the employees in the company understand compliance. The survey results highlight that the corporate response to bribery and corruption has not improved, a situation which is surprising considering the enforcement of anti-bribery legislation is going to get tougher in the UK.
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