英国《反贿赂法》对跨国公司合规提出新挑战--严格责任及其抗辩

在反商业贿赂的法律领域,相比这一领域的"鼻祖"美国《反海外贿赂法》,英国最新实施的《反贿赂法》在具体制度上有了新的发展。《反贿赂法》规定了公司的严格责任,即除非能够证明已经采取"充分措施"防止贿赂行为,公司将为代表其行事的第三方的贿赂行为承担责任。《反贿赂法》具有域外效力,对中国公司的跨国经营提出了挑战。英国执法机构为《反贿赂法》的合规提供了指南,一些国际组织也准备了类似文件,本文据此对跨国公司合规的措施提出了建议。

In the anti bribery legal area, the newly implemented UK Bribery Act has made progress compared with the US Foreign Cor- ruption Practice Act who was the pioneer in this area. The UK Bribery Act imposes a strict liability on companies, i.e., unless it is able to prove that adequate actions have been taken to avoid bribery, a company may be held liable for the behaviors of third parties acting on its behalf. The UK Bribery Act has ex - territory effect and brings chal｜enges to Chinese multinational companies that may operate beyond China. The British enforcement agency provided compliance guidance for the Act, and some international organizations provided similar documents as well. This paper provides suggestions on how to ensure com- pliance based on the above guiding documents.