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LATEST NEWS & EVENTS Bribery Act receives royal assent  A new piece of legislation which is designed to clamp down on large firms making payments to officials located overseas in order to facilitate business has received royal assent. The Bribery Act has been introduced and it is now a corporate offence for companies in the UK to fail to prevent such activity. Experts suggest the move by the government is a response to the case of BAE Systems, which saw the organisation agree to pay £300 million in fines earlier this year. Under the terms of the new rules, firms will have to show they have "adequate processes" in place to prevent bribery from occurring and those which fail to do so may face prosecution alongside the individual workers who committed the act. Businesses caught out under the law will face punishments such as having to hand back all of the profit made as a result of the contract won via the bribe, as well as jail terms and fines. The Ministry of Justice - which is one of the largest government departments and operates with an annual budget of £9.2 billion - is set to publish guidance on what constitutes "adequate processes". 
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