Bribery
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U.K. Government Report Sets Out 60-Point Plan to Tackle Bribery
By Suzi Ring Dec
18, 2014 1:00 PM GMT+0300
A specialist unit to tackle bribery is
one of 60 initiatives the government will announce today, in a long-awaited
report designed to improve anti-corruption measures in the U.K.
The study, originally intended to be
published mid year, will recommend the U.K. National Crime Agency creates the
unit, while the Home Office will consult on
how to better protect police whistle-blowers, according to Daniel Lyons, a
government spokesman.
The report was initiated in light of
government concerns over damage to Britain’s reputation after scandals
threatened London’s image as a world
financial center. The U.K. Serious Fraud Office is investigating cases
including the rigging of foreign-exchange rates and interest-rate benchmarks.
No companies have been prosecuted under the new U.K. Bribery Act, which came
into force in 2011 to help prosecutors tackle corruption.
“All the studies show that corruption is
a grave threat to our economic prosperity and national security,” Matthew Hancock, the U.K. business minister, said. “As
host to one of the world’s largest financial centers, the U.K. has a moral duty
and global responsibility to ensure that corrupt officials and organized
criminals do not abuse our systems.”
Other initiatives in the plan include a
national risk assessment on money laundering and terrorist
financing to be carried out by the Treasury and Home Office. The Department for
International Development will create a
team to help with legal assistance and asset recovery from other countries.
A separate report into the SFO’s work
published last month concluded the agency hasn’t done enough to improve its
investigative work or its assessment of its staff since being told to fix them
in 2012. That study was written by the HM Crown Prosecution Service
Inspectorate, a body authorized to assess U.K. prosecuting agencies.
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