[The Bribery Act] is fair, too. Unlike the FCPA, it has a “compliance defence” that allows a company to avoid the harshest penalties if the wrongdoer is a junior employee and the firm otherwise has a strict anti-bribery policy which is clear to all employees and effectively administered. One rogue employee can’t easily cause a crippling probe into an otherwise blameless company. America’s Department of Justice sees no need for such safeguards. And since few cases go to trial, judges have given little guidance as to what the FCPA’s bewildering text actually means. So, for now, it means whatever an aggressive prosecutor says it does.
Read more: Bribery abroad: A tale of two laws — Economist
