JAPAN Trends and Developments Contributed by: Masayuki Atsumi and Yuhei Sakao, Miura & Partners
Conclusion Continuing on from 2023, there have been major developments regarding anti-bribery regulations in Japan, including the amendment of the Guide - lines. However, the author believes that bribery cases have not been eliminated, not only because of the greed of individuals or corporations aiming to gain business advantages and deficiencies in internal controls and governance, but also due to the lack of sufficient legal knowledge and integrity among executives and employees. If executives and employees fully understand the content of laws and regulations on bribery, including the severity of the penalties and the reputational damage to the company if bribery is discovered, they would realise how unprofitable and shortsighted it is to engage in bribery to gain immediate profit. Also, if executives knew that the discovery of bribery would severely dam - age them and their companies, they would be able to steadfastly refuse to become involved in bribery even if public officials are demanding a bribe. It is not easy to disseminate accurate legal information and ethical standards to all execu - tives and employees, and it will be important for management to continuously disseminate mes - sages and conduct periodic education and train - ing programmes. Hopefully, this report will be of some help in this regard.
public officials by businesses and introduce three important perspectives, emphasising: • the importance of the attitude of, and mes - sage from, top management; • a risk-based approach; and • the necessity of taking action at the subsidi - ary level based on the bribery risk. In addition, the Guidelines introduce desirable preventative system methodologies for busi - nesses and recommend that the following six desirable elements be included in a preventative system: • the formulation/announcement of basic poli - cies; • the formulation of internal rules (eg, approval rules for high-risk activities such as socialis - ing or the appointment of third parties, and rules for disciplinary punishment or censure); • the development of organisational frame - works; • the implementation of educational activities in the company; • audits; and • review by management. Although the Guidelines were prepared from the perspective of preventing bribery of foreign public officials, the basic points and sugges - tions presented therein are also very useful for preventing bribery of domestic public officials in Japan. The formulation of basic policies and internal rules and educational activities is highly effective to prevent bribery of both domestic and foreign public officials.
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