ACCA P1考試：Bribery and Corruption

4.7.8 Proportionality

Under the UK Bribery Act, the Serious Fraud Office will decide whether or not to proceed with a prosecution. The criteria used are based on the probable success of the prosecution and the public interest.

This implies that smaller organisations below the publicinterest radar may not be subject to the enforcement of the law and, hence, there may not be a level playing field for all organisations.

Summary:

Conflicts of interest occur when a situation has the potential to undermine an individual's impartiality.

Safeguards against ethical dilemmas include control mechanisms, review, threat of discipline, awareness education and mentoring.

The ACCA and the AICPA ethical conflict resolution models generally follow the pattern of:

defi ning the ethical principals in confl ict;

determining appropriate courses of action;

consulting with appropriate persons inside or outside the fi rm; and withdrawing from the situation if no resolution can be reached.

Categories of ethical threat include self-interest, self-review, advocacy, familiarity and intimidation. Safeguards against ethical threat may be promoted by the work environment or created by the profession, legislation or regulation.

Unethical behaviour can be influenced by personality traits, culture and prevailing organisation or industry ethics. Unethical activities may not be illegal.

Corruption is the misuse of power for personal gain; bribery is the inducement or payment for such misuse of power.

Types of corruption include general corruption, entity corruption, political corruption, bureaucratic corruption or systemic corruption.

Corruption has many harms, including:

Reduction in market effi ciencies;

Deterring investment;

Environmental degradation;

Reduction in government revenues; and

Decreasing motivation in affected organisations.

Corporate governance processes, effectively implemented, will tend to decrease corruption.

The UK Bribery Act prevents any kind of bribery by a UK citizen, or anyone acting on behalf of a UK relevant organisation, anywhere in the world.

Payments required by local law or related to a fast-track service are not considered facilitation payments and are allowed under the UK Bribery Act. (US law allows facilitation payments; Asian countries may still allow bribes.)