Pitfalls and precautions around high bribery risk jurisdictions

Operating in high-risk countries, especially through intermediaries or third party resellers, will expose banks and other financial institutions to the danger of prosecution under the Bribery Act – unless they take adequate precautions to prevent becoming involved in corruption

UK pharmaceutical group GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has admitted that it is looking into allegations of bribery in Poland, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon. These admissions come only months after the company became embroiled in a bribery scandal in China, where it was accused of funnelling as much as £320 million to doctors and government officials to boost sales. The unique point about the GSK incident is that it is the first (announced) investigation into a major corporate where alleged corrupt practices