Paying bribes, “facilitation” payments or so called “consultancy fees” to win contracts or to facilitate project execution is a criminal offence in many jurisdictions that is penalised with jail sentences and large fines. The UK Bribery Act 2010, the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials (as implemented in the various OECD countries) and other bribery legislation have made Anti Bribery and Corruption legislation (“ABC”) an issue of ever increasing importance for contractors on the North Sea. In recent years contractual requirements with regard to ABC legislation compliance have become more and more detailed and stringent. Many contractors do not seem to be aware of this development and the potential impact of involvement with bribery accusations. Understanding the risks of bribery and corruption and putting proper anti-bribery management systems in place is of the utmost importance for contractor and operators alike. If you would wish to increase your awareness about this very important aspect of contracting you can read the power point presentation in the PDF that you can download at the bottom of this page. The presentation is the speech that Lonneke Holierhoek gave at the Offshore Energy Conference in Amsterdam on 28 October 2014.

Download the document here.