Amon Cohen wants to buy you a drink ... but doesn't want to end up in chokey for it. So when is a bribe not a bribe? Clarification about hospitality, it seems, is needed
LET ME START 2012 by urging you to revisit something you may not have given sufficient attention in 2011 – the UK Bribery Act. I didn’t. As George W Bush would say, I “misunderestimated” this legislation, and so, too, I suspect, did many other people in corporate travel.
Perception of the act seemed to pass through three phases in 2011. Phase one, at the beginning of the year, was abject panic that it might mean the outlawing of corporate hospitality. Some companies were so terrified that I remember one large travel player telling me of cancellations for a planned client seminar because customers thought that even staying around for drinks and dinner afterwards could be in breach of the rules.
Much-needed clarification was provided in March 2011, ahead of the act taking effect in July, when the Ministry of Justice belatedly published guidelines to its ambiguously worded new law. The guidelines stressed that “reasonable and proportionate” hospitality would be entirely acceptable and there was never any intention to bang up account managers for taking customers to watch rugby at Twickenham.
At that point, I suspect, many of us moved into phase two of our relationship with the Bribery Act. We promptly forgot about it, assuming there was nothing more to worry about.
That’s why I was bemused when Kevin Iwamoto of meetings technology company Starcite asked me to participate in a seminar on meetings risk management a few months ago and suggested I cover the Bribery Act.
Kevin encouraged me to take another look at it, and so I have now entered phase three, as have others, which is realising there remain some very relevant and important implications. Why do I say this? Well, the act does much more than make it illegal to make or receive a bribe. It is also now an offence to fail to prevent bribery by an associated person, and that can include a range of stakeholders, among them agents and contractors.
So let’s say you stage a conference overseas and your destination management company greases palms to get exhibition materials through customs, or even has to pay protection money. You could be liable, especially as the act also makes bribery a strict liability offence, meaning evidence of criminal intention is not required.
Put another way, claiming unawareness of someone making or taking a bung on your behalf is no defence. And what is and isn’t a bung?
What is and isn’t reasonable and proportional hospitality?
We probably won’t know until prosecutions establish some case precedent, but last year’s guidance provided a few pointers. For example, while taking your client to Twickenham is acceptable, sending them, all expenses paid, to the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand without accompanying them would not be.
To cover your bottom, the act states companies must take what are termed “adequate procedures” to prevent individuals from offending. From a travel and meeting management point of view, this means a lot of compliance work, like making risk assessments, carrying out due diligence of associates and their activities, and providing training on what constitutes unacceptable hospitality. Pretty tedious bureaucracy, to be honest, but it could save you and your company much trouble down the line.
Only a couple of weeks to go to the prestigious Business Travel Awards, so I consider it high time to revive the somewhat less prestigious Gongs In Travel (or Gits, for short) which I launched through this column a few years ago.
So, cue drum roll, and here, following a hard lunchtime’s adjudication by an entirely partial one-man panel in the Horsepond Inn, are those Gits in full for 2011:
GARROW’S LAW CUP FOR INESTIMABLE SERVICES TO THE LEGAL PROFESSION
Joint-winners: American Airlines, Sabre and Travelport Will this lot never stop arguing? There has been so much litigation and counter-litigation between AA and the two global distribution systems that most of us can’t even remember what they were fighting about in the first place. Something to do with plans for Direct Connect, wasn’t it? Not that m’learned friends will care as they laugh all the way to the First Bank of Texas. AA and Sabre also share the JR Ewing Trophy for biggest punch-up between Dallasbased former relations.
LEWIS HAMILTON AWARD FOR BIGGEST U-TURN
Winner: Easyjet Runner-up: American Airlines Do you recall the days when Easyjet used to be incredibly rude about travel managers, naming companies in ‘Hall of Shame’ national press ads? Now they can’t get enough of you, even sponsoring the Institute of Travel & Meetings conference back in April. Dear old AA picks up the runners-up award for a booking source premium surcharge which it intended to collect by agency debit memo (ADM) from Travelport – using travel agents. Major travel management companies threatened to reject the ADMs because they considered them illegal, and at least one boycotted the airline as well. AA withdrew the premium.
BLARNEY STONE AWARD FOR ALL MOUTH AND NO TROUSERS
Winner: Ryanair Remember the standing-up seat, announced with great fanfare in summer 2010? Well, a whole calendar year has passed, and still no sign of one on a Ryanair aircraft. Wasn’t this the airline that was going to charge us for using the loo, too?
BANDWAGON OF THE YEAR
Joint-winners: British Airways and Lufthansa Group A couple of years ago KLM started surcharging for using a credit card to pay for flights booked through a travel agent. 2011 saw BA and Lufthansa’s many airlines also decide what a great idea it would be effectively to charge customers for the privilege of giving them money.
THE PINOT NOIR TROPHY FOR SOUR GRAPES
Joint-winners: Alstom and the French government They’re still really cross about both Eurostar and Deutsche Bahn awarding their Channel Tunnel train contracts to Siemens. All legal efforts to kill the deals have, to date, failed.
NUROFEN AWARD FOR MOST HEADACHE -INDUCING EU REGULATION
Winner: Tour Operators’ Margin Scheme Don’t pretend to me you understand TOMS, especially how it relates to charging VAT for meetings packages.
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