Annex
Letter to the Prime Minister from the Secretary
of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, 18 December
2007
UK ANTI-CORRUPTION PLAN
SUMMARY
In the summer you appointed me to be the Government's
international anti-corruption champion. There is much to achieve
over the coming year and I set out below the overarching objectives
of the UK's 2nd Anti-Corruption Action Plan. These
build on the successful efforts that Hilary[2]
undertook last year which established the UK at the forefront
of efforts in this field. A significant challenge is to bring
together the policy strands of more than 20 departments, agencies
and law enforcement bodies to address the drivers of corruption.
I am proposing that the UK develops a medium-term strategy to
achieve this. I shall chair an informal Ministerial Committee
to take this agenda forward.
UK'S 2nd ANTI-CORRUPTION ACTION
PLAN
In the summer you appointed me to be the Government's
international anti-corruption champion. I have received colleague's
agreement to the UK's second annual plan. It focuses on:
- investigating and prosecuting bribery overseas;
- eliminating money laundering and recovering stolen
assets;
- promoting responsible business conduct in developing
countries, and
- supporting international efforts to fight corruption.
The plan will further improve the effectiveness of
our systems, at home and abroad, to counter international corruption.
This will strengthen our efforts to protect the integrity of the
UK as a financial centre, to reduce the harm to the UK posed by
organised crime and terrorism and to reduce poverty in developing
countries. This commitment will be more widely recognised when
we have undertaken fundamental reform of the UK's corruption legislation.
Investigating and Prosecuting Bribery Overseas
We are supporting the Law Commission's review into
the bribery law with a view to legislation. Our current law is
complex and fragmented and in need of modernisation. The Law Commission
should publish their final report and draft Bill by autumn 2008.
Once their review is complete we will be seeking to bring forward
legislative proposals as soon as we are in a position to do so.
The challenge for the Government is to bring the Bill before Parliament
in the 4th session and to be in a position to announce
this in next year's Queen's Speech.
A clear indication of the seriousness of the UK's
commitment to legislate against corruption is the Government's
intention to introduce the extension of Serious Fraud Office (SFO)
Powers. The Attorney General is preparing an amendment to the
Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill which will reduce the time
needed by the SFO to establish whether there is any basis for
investigating allegations of foreign bribery.
The FCO is working to ensure optimal preparation
for and cooperation with the OECD phase 2bis review to evaluate
the UK's anti-bribery framework. The UK will come under intense
scrutiny when the OECD Bribery Working Group undertakes the phase
2bis review in March. It will be a good opportunity for the UK
to show the progress that has been made on the OECD's earlier
recommendations. The UK will also facilitate a review by the Council
of Europe's Group of States against Corruption (GRECO).
The UK will take forward work on the EU Procurement
Directive to clarify how the mandatory exclusion of individuals
convicted of bribery is applied across the EU. We shall continue
to work with the European Commission to achieve a workable and
uniform application of the Directive.
Combating Money Laundering
The UK will implement fully the Third EU Money Laundering
Directive by end 2007. This contains significant steps to combat
money laundering by Politically Exposed Persons. The Home Office
are taking forward the Asset Recovery Action Plan, in which the
Government has put forward measures and requested the public's
proposals to meet the UK's wider objectives on recovering the
proceeds of crime.
HM Treasury will develop proposals to enhance intelligence
and prioritise action against threats more effectively. The merger
of the Assets Recovery Agency and Serious Organised Crime Agency
will further improve the UK's ability to build intelligence packages
on Politically Exposed Persons.
In line with our G8 commitment, the Home Office will
now deny entry to those considered to be involved in corruption
on a case-by-case basis. They will start applying other tools,
including Serious Crime Prevention Orders and Financial Reporting
Orders, to monitor the assets of individuals convicted of corruption
and deter criminal activities in the UK's financial systems.
Promoting Responsible Business Conduct
I want to raise awareness and encourage my colleagues
to raise awareness of the risks of international bribery and corruption
with priority groups. The regulated financial sector, businesses
and professional groups are on the front line of eliminating foreign
bribery and money laundering. More can be done to help business
contribute positively to this agenda.
DFID will continue to lead the way by continuing
its support for the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
There are other areas too. The Construction Sector Transparency
Initiative (CoST) will help to tackle corruption and inefficiency
in the construction sector. Lack of effective infrastructure is
a major impediment to growth, particularly in Africa, but corruption
and inefficiency means roads, bridges, schools and hospitals are
too expensive, or of poor quality—or both. CoST will bring
together governments, companies, civil society and others to increase
transparency, improve governance and build accountability.
The Medicines Transparency Alliance—or MeTA—will
help tackle inefficiency, excessive price mark-ups, the diversion
of key medicines from intended recipients and the presence of
poor quality and counterfeit drugs. Up to seven countries will
undertake MeTA pilots: Ghana, Uganda, Zambia, Philippines, Jordan,
Peru and Kyrgyzstan. They will seek to 'learn by doing' by securing
political commitment, establishing the multi-stakeholder group,
working with civil society and disclosing data on price, quality
and accessibility from procurement to patient into the public
domain. There will also be a programme with NATO partners to 'Build
Integrity in the Defence Sector'.
Supporting International Efforts
I have taken the opportunity to raise the fight against
corruption with the Overseas Territories. They and the Crown Dependencies
are key partners in eliminating foreign bribery and money laundering.
We shall help our Overseas Territories to apply relevant international
agreements, such as the UN Convention against Corruption and the
OECD Bribery Convention, and measures equivalent to the EU Directives
on money laundering. We shall also support the Crown Dependencies
by reviewing their legislation to confirm it will support the
extension of the international conventions.
HM Treasury is improving the international money
laundering system under the UK's Presidency of FATF.[3]
This includes improving standards in developing countries. Another
major objective is to advance the implementation of the UN Convention
against Corruption (UNCAC)—the first global consensus on
combating corruption. To support this, the FCO is coordinating
the UK's piloting of the self-assessment of UNCAC and DFID will
take forward the asset recovery initiatives. Many departments
do a lot to build the capacity of developing countries. We will
continue to work to ensure increased coordination at the international
level.
I am copying this letter to NSID (EU)[4]
colleagues and would like to thank them for their continued support
to achieve the objectives. I am also copying this to Sir Gus O'Donnell.
I shall send a progress update in February and again in July.
2 Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP, the Government's then 'international
anti-corruption champion' Back
3
Financial Action Task Force Back
4
Ministerial Committee on National Security, International Relations
and Development, Sub-Committee on Europe Back
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