Promise Bribery Act Policy and Procedure

Document Reference: PM-BA-001 Version: v3.1 Owner: Compliance Team — Promise Money Next Review Date: [To be confirmed]

PROMISE BRIBERY ACT POLICY AND PROCEDURES

Background

The Ministry of Justice has published its Guidance on the Bribery Act which affects all commercial organisations not just Financial Services businesses.

In a nutshell any firm could be at risk of the corporate offence of failure to prevent bribery, and will therefore need to have in place “adequate procedures” designed to prevent bribery, which, under the Act, will afford a defence.

The Act is silent as to what ‘adequate’ procedures will look like but requires the Government to provide guidance on the point. Following the publication of its draft guidance in September 2010, the Government came under increasing pressure for a review of the Act.

Application

The Bribery Act will not lead to a large number of prosecutions and will not outlaw corporate hospitality, the Government has said in long-awaited guidance on last year's Bribery Act.

The guidance also makes it clear that small companies could communicate their anti-bribery policies orally and still meet the requirements of the new law.

"Cases will be brought where they are in the public interest, which will require the personal agreement of the Director of Public Prosecutions or the Director of the Serious Fraud Office," said Justice Secretary Ken Clarke. "I do not expect a large number of prosecutions and certainly not for trivial cases."

The Act should not be used to stop companies from entertaining customers and contacts, the new rules said.

Approval

Any item or gift which can be construed as having a monetary value must be notified to the Compliance Director within 7 days of receipt. (appendix 1)

If the gift or item has a monetary value of less than £100 there is no formal approval of acceptance required and your notification will be purely for record keeping purposes.

Any gift or item with a monetary value in excess of £100 cannot be accepted without formal approval from the Compliance Director. (There are however some exclusions see table below)

Back-door Transactions

It is not permissible for any individual within the firm to procure any other person to enter into a transaction with a view to circumventing these procedures. Furthermore, it is not permissible for any individual within the firm to communicate any information or opinion to any other person if he knows, or ought to know, that the other person will, as a result, enter into such a transaction, or procure any other person to do so.

Record-keeping

All Gifts and inducements must be notified to your Compliance Officer using a ‘request for approval form’.

All records must be retained by the firm for a period of not less than six years from the date the individual ceases to be engaged by the firm.

The Compliance Director will maintain a record of received approval forms.

Appendix1

Should any member of staff be offered or receive a gift or hospitality in connection with their role at Promise the form below must be completed and passed to a Director for sign off before acceptance.

Declaration

I confirm that I have read and understood the above Bribery Act procedures and acknowledge that these form part of my contractual obligations to the firm. Furthermore, I undertake to seek a determination from the Compliance Director should there be any situation where it is unclear as to whether the transaction is deemed a personal account transaction or otherwise.