ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the second element of the UK response to economic crime, namely bribery and corruption. It considers the background to the creation of the current institutional framework of the special prosecutor and the financial regulator. Internationally, the Bribery Act 2010 supports the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials and the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) 2003. Prosecutions for bribery have been few in number but it would be stretching credulity to believe that foreign bribery does not take place. The Bribery Act 2010 overhauls the UK's patchwork of archaic corruption laws, and is regarded as setting the 'gold standard' in bribery legislation. Penalties under the Bribery Act are split between those for individuals and those for 'non-individuals'. The maximum penalty for individuals is an unlimited fine, imprisonment for up to ten years, or both.
