Bribery Act 'applies to Jersey businesses'

30/January/2012

Parts of the Bribery Act apply to Jersey businesses, the Jersey Financial Services Commission has said.

The JFSC clarified the implications of the legislation, which came into force last year, for Jersey companies in a Dear CEO letter.

The body's policy director, Andrew Le Brun, explained that parts 1, 2 and 6 of the act apply to Islanders.

The legislation includes four main categories of offence – bribing another person (section 1); being bribed (section 2); bribing a foreign official (section 6) and failing to prevent bribery (section 7).

"British citizens/nationals in Jersey therefore fall within the jurisdiction of the act and can be individually liable for the offences in sections 1, 2 and 6," Mr Le Brun said.

"This would include anyone with a Jersey passport."

2012 will see a much greater number of firms falling foul of the act, Interchange recently claimed.

John Burbidge-King, chief executive officer and risk expert at Interchange, said: "The Bribery Act has been designed not just for large corporates to clean up their commercial dealings, but as the first conviction shows, individuals and much smaller businesses, especially those trading abroad."

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