Facilitation payments under the Bribery Act 2010

Produced in partnership with Richard Furlong of Mountford Chambers and Joseph Sinclair

Practice notes

Facilitation payments under the Bribery Act 2010

Produced in partnership with Richard Furlong of Mountford Chambers and Joseph Sinclair

Practice notes

Facilitating the performance of a duty by public officials

Facilitation payments, also known as facilitating or grease payments, are generally small amounts of money paid to public officials or others as a means of ensuring that they perform their duty, whether more promptly or at all. It can also include the giving of ‘gifts’, such as cigarettes or alcohol. In some jurisdictions such payments are customary and legal (eg they are permitted in certain circumstances by the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 1977 (FCPA 1977), see Practice Note: The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 1977 (FCPA 1977) and Bribery Act 2010 (BA 2010) comparison table).

Are facilitation payments illegal under BA 2010?

Facilitation payments constitute the offering, promising or giving of a financial advantage and amount to bribery, as they are not exempted under Bribery Act 2010 (BA 2010).

Active bribery offences

Active bribery is explicitly prohibited by the BA 2010. A facilitation payment made directly or indirectly to a public official, an employee of any organisation or business,

Richard Furlong

Barrister, Mountford Chambers

Richard Furlong was called to the bar in 1994. He was previously employed as an Investment analyst and worked in the financial services sector between 1986 and 1992. Richard has a mixed criminal and civil practice with a particular interest in fraud, corruption and money laundering, confiscation proceedings and other white collar crimes. He is regularly briefed to defend solicitors, accountants, financial advisors and other professionals. Richard is a highly regarded author of a number of publications relating to fraud and financial matters and is a current contributor to the Lexis®PSL Bribery and Corruption Toolkit. The legal directories note the following: "He's very strong internationally, is very clever and is one of those barristers who doesn't seem to sleep”, "Very knowledgeable and impressive”, “A man very much with his wits about him" and “A succinct advocate who bring his previous experience to the table”.

Joseph Sinclair

Barrister

Joseph Sinclair is a criminal, public, and regulatory law pupil barrister at Mountford Chambers and an associate researcher for an anti-corruption charity, specialising in bribery, corruption, asset recovery, sanctions, and mutual legal assistance.

Jurisdiction(s):

United Kingdom

Key definition:

Bribery definition

What does Bribery mean?

The Bribery Act 2010 consolidated and reformed the law on bribery.

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