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A worker walks near conveyer belts loaded with iron ore at the Fortescue Solomon iron ore mine located in the Valley of the Kings, around 400 km (248 miles) south of Port Hedland in the Pilbara region of Western Australia December 2, 2013. Australian iron ore mining seems immune from the spending crunch afflicting other commodities as a slowdown in Chinese growth cools a decade-long mining boom. Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals Group are bulking up in Western Australia's iron-rich Pilbara desert as if the mining boom had never ended. A place where capital expenditure is still measured in the billions. The miners are speeding up transformation of an area the size of Peru into a moonscape of rust-red pits linked via thousands of kilometres (miles) of rail lines to giant iron ore ports perched on the easternmost edge of the Indian Ocean. Picture taken December 2, 2013. REUTERS/David Gray

Companies that are under investigation for lower-scale bribery issues should be allowed to reach deferred or non-prosecution agreements with concerned authorities, says BHP Billiton. The Australian mining giant suggested that Australia should alter its laws related to foreign bribery to incorporate these changes.

In the U.K. and U.S., the law permits companies being investigated for foreign bribery to negotiate with authorities. However in Australia, only the federal police can choose to lay criminal charges on the company or release it altogether without taking any action.

Gathering evidence supporting cases of foreign bribery is very difficult for the police, and the entire process of investigation is also lengthy and highly costly. The approach has been described as “all or nothing” by a BHP Billiton executive.

The Australian Federal Police has only launched two prosecutions since 1999, when foreign bribery was made a criminal offence in Australia.

After facing a fine of US$25 million (AU$36 million) by the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission for the 2008 Beijing Olympics hospitality for foreign officials, BHP Billiton realised the importance of being able to negotiate a settlement with the concerned authorities for a company. The U.S. SEC discovered that while BHP displayed no signs of corruption or bribery, it had no internal control over the program. The AFP is still investigating BHP, as well as Leighton Holdings and Tenix.

Under a deferred prosecution agreement, the companies are allowed a fixed period of time to pay the fine and make necessary changes to their systems so that it doesn’t happen again. It is also mandatory for the companies to keep co-operating with the authorities in the future. If a company is able to adhere to all the terms and conditions, the criminal charges will be dropped. The procedures under non-prosecution agreement do not involve criminal charges against the company.

"We do not view DPAs, NPAs or civil resolutions as a replacement for all corporate criminal prosecutions," its submission states, via The Sydney Morning Herald.

"Criminal liability has a critical public role to play in expressing condemnation of illegal conduct, and acts as a strong deterrent. If a corporate entity commits a serious foreign bribery offence, it is essential that a just and transparent punishment is imposed on the entity, so that the public interest is served."

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