It’s not that the horse has left the stable; it was actually in sight on its way to the finishing line when Number 10 announced its review of the Bribery Act. So Thursday’s news did come as a bit of a last -minute surprise to those involved – the thought “why did they leave it so late” must have come into everyone else’s mind.

So what options do they have? It seems that doing a u-turn and going back to parliament with a substantially changed Act would be too embarrassing home and abroad. A small change introduced quickly might be politically possible, but however quickly it’s introduced it has to go back to parliament. That will take time . . . six months to a year if you consider the other legislation this government is pursuing.

Is this a delay that the government is willing to suffer the embarrassment for? Is this a piece of legislation it will want to take through parliament again? – I’m not sure it is.

So if the government doesn’t attempt the above, which is difficult or maybe impossible, it comes down to the guidance. Can it be more specific? Can it be broader and easier to follow than the current draft, which is written for a multinational?

This again is difficult as the guidance is not written as a regulation. You don’t comply with adequate procedures; you voluntarily follow them to give you and your company a defence.

So improving the guidance is an option. It could be simpler, but committing to keep it more practical and detailed would create a significant challenge to keep it up to date. And if the guidance went beyond high-level principles, which many businesses would like, it creates a pointless law – if used incorrectly “the ABC guide on how to bribe”.

My money is, therefore, on enhanced education and awareness with some more reassurance from the prosecutors about their sensible and pragmatic view of expected prosecutions from the Act. This itself may cause some further small delay.

Stuart Melhuish
Stuart Melhuish is a Director of Venalitas, a specialist consulting and software company focused on the Bribery Act 2010.