The United Kingdom has legislated against corruption in various forms since the late 19th Century, this itself drawing on a longer tradition in British law. The Bribery Act 2010 is a recent and landmark addition to the legislative environment in the UK for corruption. However, the Bribery Act does not address all forms of corrupt behaviour. Laws against money laundering, fraud and theft may be applied to detect, deter and recover the proceeds of corruption. In addition, legislation covers other types of corrupt behaviour both in public office and the private sector. The purpose of this paper is to inform all interested parties both domestically and overseas about the breadth of UK legislation which may have some application to countering bribery, corruption and related offenses like money laundering. It is a non-lawyers' guide, and is therefore not a substitute for a detailed review of the legislation, but it is intended to be an easy entry point to stimulate further enquiry.
The purpose of this document is to illustrate how bribes are paid in practice, based on legal cases and realistic experiences. We hope that it will provide information that is useful to organisations and individuals in raising awareness and training, and to those designing an anti-corruption system that is flexible enough to take into account the many forms of bribery. The target audience of this publication is anyone who is affected by the UK Bribery Act and similar legislation. Transparency International's overall objective in producing this guidance is to help reduce supply-side bribery. This document is one of a suite of tools to help individuals and companies anticipate, recognise, avoid and resist bribery.
Sport allows billions of people – be they professional athletes, supporters or amateurs playing for pleasure and health – to experience great emotion, to learn the value and importance of rules, and to develop respect for others. Those at the top of sport – heads of international federations as well as volunteer leaders at local clubs – have a duty to set high standards and lead with integrity, not least because of the enormous influence sport has in shaping social values. Poor governance and corruption damage not only the image of sport, its federations and representatives but they compromise sport's ability to spread the value of fair play and integrity, especially to young people. The more money involved, the greater the risks. Today high profile sports, like cricket, have become multi-million dollar global businesses. They are also closely linked to betting, both legal and illegal, making them vulnerable to manipulation and a possible prey to organised crime. They are constantly in the spotlight, which magnifies both the good they can do and the bad. Too often these days, however, it is the scandals that make the headlines. Cricket has a proud tradition as a by-word for fair play. But there is a danger this will be lost if the key problems it faces today – from match-fixing and spot fixing to questionable finances in independent leagues – are not addressed. With this action plan Transparency International focuses on the most obvious and dangerous corruption risks posed by poor governance. It provides a road map of the essential actions that the International Cricket Council (ICC) can take to bring needed changes to cricket, step by step. Our approach is to use the experience we have gained in 20 years fighting corruption and developing good governance principles for politics and business, and applying this to governance in sports organisations. We strongly believe that the ICC can play a significant role in setting the tone of how cricket should be run and have an impact on compelling its members to adhere to basic principles of good governance. This report is offered by the Transparency International movement to the game's leaders, administrators, players and supporters worldwide. We hope it will stimulate debate and change.
