The Bribery Act 2010 introduced a new offence for corporate clients and rationalised this country's corruption laws. It placed significant onus on companies to implement wide ranging governance to protect against the risk of corrupt practices within the organisation and its relationships with third parties. If reasonable and sufficient, a company will be able to claim that it has adequate procedures in place to defend any accusation of failure to prevent bribery under section 7 of the Bribery Act.
Corporate governance is an essential part of any corporate entity's toolkit and one on which we are adept at advising.
The team at Mishcon has advised individuals and corporates alike in respect of allegations of corruption. We have acted for companies investigating suspected corruption within their ranks or employees or agents accused of bribery and our lawyers have experience of negotiating non-prosecution outcomes for companies, such as civil recovery orders and DPAs. Members of our team have been involved in some of the largest criminal investigations in the last twenty years, from the 'cash for honours' investigation into the Blair Government, to BAE, Airbus, Unaoil and Rolls Royce.
Our lawyers have extensive experience of advising corporates in respect of internal corruption investigations with a view to self-reporting to the SFO under the DPA regime and achieving the best settlement available taking into account financial penalties and debarment issues. With the extremely wide extraterritorial effect of the Bribery Act we also have significant experience of advising foreign entities on their risks of exposure.
We don't just act for those accused of corruption. We also act for witnesses in corruption cases; advising individuals and corporates who are caught up in the investigation. The SFO frequently issue compulsory section 2 notices to witnesses in their investigations and we advise on the production of documents and/or attendance at an interview to furnish information. We will also assist with drafting of witness statements and with preparation for giving evidence at trial.