Argentina approves corporate criminal liability for corruption law
Argentina’s National Congress has approved a new Law on Corporate Criminal Liability for corruption offences – which will come into effect in the first quarter of 2018.
According to analysis by international law firm Baker McKenzie, the new law holds that legal entities may be sanctioned for offences including:
- inational and transnational bribery and influence peddling (under sections 258 and 258 bis of the Argentine Criminal Code or ‘ACC’);
- improper and unlawful transactions of public officials (section 265 ACC);
- illegal exaction committed by a public official (section 268 ACC);
- illicit enrichment of public officials and employees (section 268, subsections 1 and 2 ACC); and
- false balance sheets and reports (section 300 bis ACC).
The legislation holds that legal persons will not be prosecuted where an individual has acted in such a way that only he/she has benefited from the corrupt act and the company has not profited by it.
Penalties include but are not limited to:
- Fines of up to five times the improper benefit obtained
- Suspension of commercial activities
- Disqualification from public tenders or bids
- Loss or suspension of governmental subventions
Factors to be taken into account when assessing penalties will include the presence of a compliance programme, amount of money involved, size and turnover of company and voluntary disclosure.
WorldECR’s sister publication, Trade Security Journal covers developments in anti-corruption that impact international business – see www.tradesecurityjournal.com for further information.
