Anti-Bribery Legislation in the United States and United Kingdom: A Comparative Analysis of Scope and Sentencing

Abstract

Lawmakers and prosecutors continue to take aim at a major subset of global corruption - corporate bribery of foreign government officials. Specifically, while the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in the United States has risen to new records, the United Kingdom has revolutionized its anti-bribery law following global criticism of its previously relaxed legal regime. Both U.S. and U.K. anti-bribery laws, furthermore, apply extraterritorially and have the capability to entangle even the largest multinational companies in their legal frameworks. These all-encompassing frameworks hold significant consequences for both corporations and their employees, but the increasing power of anti-bribery law raises important questions regarding the proper scope of legislation on the subject, as well as the sentencing approaches to these crimes.