11/1/2010
End of Corruption – Major developments at home and abroad
The focus on this well-attended seminar - organized together with ICC and BSCC in October - was the recent developments in anti-bribery law and enforcement in the US, UK and Sweden, and practical aspects of ensuring business integrity and strict compliance.
On the agenda: How to integrate the legal provisions and a responsible conduct in corporate strategy and everyday business.
Far-reaching anti-corruption laws may put companies at risk of prosecution due to misconduct in remote places. The seminar focused on how to present prosecution and presented a strategy when an investigation is emerging.
The auditorium at Mannheimer Swartling Advokatybår was filled to the limit when ICC Sweden, with Secretary General Tell Hermanson, introduced the seminar by describing the global instruments regulating anti-corruption.
Lars Ljungholm, General Counsel at Procter & Gamble Nordic, with experiences of a US company, described the American anti-corruption legislation. FCPA, the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, is valid for American companies and their employees all over the world. SOX, the Sarbanes-Oxly Act, is applicable to companies that are directly or indirectly noted on the American stock exchange or has financial instruments on the American market; it punishes the company as well as the company management. This act also guarantees protection for whistleblowers reporting corruption.
With the heading “Britain’s bold move in anti-corruption”, Adam Greaves, Partner at McGuire Woods in London, informed the audience about the upcoming British legislation UK Bribery Act 2010, valid from April 2011, and its implications on Swedish companies. Adam Greaves emphasized the fact that this act will probably also have bearing on such Swedish companies that have any dealings with the UK.
Regarding the proposed Swedish legislation, Helén Waxberg, Partner at Mannheimer Swartling, reported on the recent Swedish bribery investigation. Some changes are suggested in this report, such as making companies responsible for crimes of bribery that have been made by agents engaged by the companies, and allowing persons supplying money for bribery to be sentenced for complicity in bribery crime. Gifts to persons close to those in power for trying to influence their decisions should be criminalized. Also suggested are ethical guidelines, detailing the rules in the legislation and giving examples on acceptable and non-acceptable behavior. Robin Oldenstam, Partner at Mannheimer Swartling, discussed “preparedness for rumors and raids”.
With a panel focusing on “US, UK and Swedish companies compared” as regards legal environment, self-regulation vs law, and cultural differences, moderated by Carl Nisser, Counsel at MCGuire Woods London, the seminar was concluded. Some interesting aspects such as how to bring different countries closer on the issue of bribery, if the Bribery Act will have an effect on Swedish legislation, if there are big differences between Sweden and other countries, etc. were discussed.
At the mingle following the panel, Mannheimer Swartling treated the guests to a (splendid) buffet, presenting the opportunity also to continue the discussions and compare notes.
For more information, International Instruments on Anti-Corruption, Codes of conduct and all the presentations in pdf, see http://www.icc.se/corruption/
