This post was written by Suzie A. Savage.

The UK Bribery Act 2010 has far-reaching implications for any business (including US businesses) which is either registered in the UK or which has any part of its operation in the UK. The breadth and importance of this legislation means that companies and their senior officers would be well advised to familiarise themselves with the effects of this new law.

In particular, the Act provides that “Senior officers” (including non-board level managers) can “individually be held criminally liable” for a company’s bribery offences. The Act also includes extensive extra-territorial powers of prosecution similar to those found in the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) and the offences apply to acts of bribery in both the public and private sectors (unlike the FCPA).

Reed Smith has produced a Client Briefing Note which provides you with a summary of the key provisions and offers suggestions for best practices to comply with the Act. Please click here for the full Reed Smith Client Briefing – The Bribery Act 2010.

In addition to this Client Briefing, Reed Smith is running a client teleseminar “The New UK Bribery Act 2010: What Does it mean for US Companies that operate in the UK?” on Thursday, June 10, 2010 from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm ET; 11:00 am – 12:00 pm CT; 9:00 am – 10:00 am PT; 17:00 pm – 18:00 pm British Summer Time and 18:00 pm – 19:00 pm Central European Summer time.

Please click here to register for the teleseminar.