The Bribery Act 2010 bites from 1 July 2011. Wimbledon’s 20 June to 3 July – so as long as it’s not the semis or finals I’ll definitely be fine – phew. But would I actually be in trouble for the semis/finals? – “You cannot be serious?!” (à la Mr McEnroe) I hear you say. Well you’re right, because fortunately Ken Clarke explicitly stated “Rest assured – no one wants to stop firms getting to know their clients by taking them to events like Wimbledon” in the Ministry of Justice’s Bribery Act guidance – Ken’s clearly a tennis fan as well – good lad. So what’s the deal with the Bribery Act then for pension scheme trustees? In short – it’s all about internal controls and keeping registers…
To expand on this some more – the Bribery Act coming into effect in a few weeks will cover pension scheme trustees. Penalties are potentially severe. However, for most trustees it should be business as usual after some initial preparation.
It’s been exactly one year since the Pensions Regulator’s Code of Practice on Internal Controls. In it the Regulator highlighted the need for trustees to identify, document and mitigate key risks and espoused the virtues of a risk register for this purpose. So the first point is – trustees, you should have a risk register. If you don’t then get one, and if you do then it’s probably a good opportunity to step back, assess how it’s working and, of course, update it to add your bribery risk assessment into the equation.
Creating a hospitality/gifts register or tweaking an existing conflicts register is also key. Keeping records of hospitality/gifts and declaring any benefits before taking relevant decisions will help trustees to demonstrate compliance with the law. And note – the regime’s focus is on improper behaviour: corruption, rather than occasional corporate hospitality.
Those are the key points for individual trustees to think about on the Bribery Act. So, while it’s quite a radical new law for the UK it shouldn’t mean that a well run group of trustees need to do too much differently. And, most importantly, if your lawyers/advisers/administrators offer you tickets for Wimbledon – the strawberries and cream are still on. Bribery Act sorted – game, set and match.
Stephen Beattie is an associate at Allen & Overy LLP.
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