Combating international corruption

Combating overseas corruption

The Government are working to equip UK exporters and overseas investors with practical advice and tools to manage the risks of overseas corruption in an increasingly complex global marketplace.
Overseas corruption hurts honest companies and raises the costs of doing business. Recent corporate studies by a range of professional service providers such as KPMG, Ernst & Young, PWC, Deloitte and Control Risks show that a significant number of UK companies have lost business to a bribing competitor or turned down overseas opportunities due to overseas corruption.

Practical advice and tools
The BIS Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) coordinates Government work to support ethical business overseas through guidance on bribery law and sponsor a free guidance website on managing the risks of international corruption.

We work with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) to provide country-specific guidance on overseas corruption issues. The ACU also supports wider Government procedures to safeguard public money from being tainted by contact with international corruption.

We promote leading UN and OECD good practice for avoiding involvement in overseas corruption, as part of wider corporate responsibility standards. We also support sector-specific initiatives for promoting anti-corruption codes of conduct and transparent procurement, including in aerospace and defence, the extractive industries, construction and pharmaceuticals.

Further work to support UK business overseas
The Government will take forward its work to support ethical business by launching a detailed anti-corruption training tool for all staff in UK Overseas Missions, to help them inform local British companies of their obligations under UK law and provide practical advice on anti-corruption risk management.
We will build on existing UKTI advice with a series of more detailed anti-corruption primers on selected markets and sectors.

We will also coordinate new guidelines for officials providing overseas trade and investment support for UK companies convicted of foreign bribery and will publish new OGC guidance on corporate convictions and EU procurement rules, alongside guidance on the new Bribery Act.

Broader international anti-corruption work
Work to support ethical business overseas forms part of the UK Foreign Bribery Strategy alongside the new Bribery Bill and dedicated law enforcement capacity in the Serious Fraud Office and City of London Police.

Internationally, the ACU represents the UK at the OECD Working Group on Bribery and supports DFID in their work helping developing countries tackle corruption and take forward the UN Convention Against Corruption.

The ACU also supports Jack Straw as the Ministerial Anti-Corruption Champion driving forward Government work against international corruption.