Olympics Contingency – Part 1: Hospitality

Hospitality is likely to be significantly more expensive during the Olympics and there are already rumours of some restaurants increasing their prices to meet higher demand.  For those fortunate enough to be entertaining at the Olympics proper planning needs to be undertaken to avoid committing an offence under the Bribery Act 2010, which covers giving and receiving hospitality.  Unlike equivalent US legislation there is no need for public officials to be involved – offences can be committed under the Act when one company executive invites another.  Offences can be committed even if neither the giver nor the recipient are UK citizens.  Given the prices of official hospitality packages, planning should include looking at guest lists and checking the motivation behind the hospitality being offered.  Accepting hospitality is also under the scope of the Act, so if you have employees being entertained at the Olympics you need to do those checks too.

When the UK bribery legislation was introduced the Ministry of Justice made it clear that hospitality is fully within the ambit of the new law, saying "Hospitality and promotional expenditure can be employed improperly and illegally as a bribe." It seems to be the view of the UK government and the prosecutors that hospitality is often just the first act in a bribery play.  For example, one of the prosecutors said during the implementation process that hospitality is "used...to groom employees...into a position of obligation and thereby prepare the way for major bribery."  The MoJ's guidance also says that the sector of business should be taken into account.  What is viewed as normal entertaining in some industries would likely appear lavish in others.  The guidance also explains that travel and hospitality connected with the service offered is unlikely to be prosecuted – again showing the importance of working out the exact purpose of the hospitality and the itinery for the trip.

To read more on the contingency plans needed for the Olympics, to avoid putting your company and its information at risk of breaching legislation, see the complete version of this article here.  Visit us again soon for part two, which will look into the preparation needed with regards to social media and the Olympics.

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