New analysis of UK bribery prosecutions

An analysis of UK bribery prosecutions has revealed that many of the bribes paid out by UK companies to secure business interests are relatively small when compared with the contract gains that result.

The review, by accountants Ernst & Young, assessed 27 bribery prosecutions and found that one-third of the bribes paid out were between £83,000 and £300,000. Companies which paid bribes at this rate ended up winning contracts worth as much as £16m.

In general, says the EY Bribery Digest, the contracts picked up by these companies were mostly in the oil and gas sector, which accounted for five of the 24 corporate cases which could be analysed by sector, followed by engineering and construction (three cases) and insurance (three cases).

However, according to Jonathan Middup, EY UK Head of Anti-Bribery and Corruption, the risk of bribery extends across all sectors.

“While oil and gas and engineering are higher risk sectors and account for many UK cases, in total twelve different sectors have featured – including food, retailing and publishing which may not have been seen as prone to corruption risk," he said. "This demonstrates that the prosecution authorities will cast their net widely.”

The Digest also reveals that most cases seem to involve payments abroad, with only a fifth of cases involving the payment of bribes in the UK. The Middle East (10 cases), Africa (7 cases) and Asia (7 cases) represent the main destinations for bribes by UK companies.

The Digest also highlights the difficulties for enforcers in building cases, with the shortest corporate “bribery to resolution” period standing at 16 months and the longest investigation taking 19 years. This, according to Ernst & Young, puts into context the lag in corporate prosecutions under the UK Bribery Act - which only became enforceable in July 2011. 

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