24.06.2021

Practice Areas: Litigation and Arbitration

Type: Articles

Approval of anti-corruption measures with impact for companies

The Council of Ministers approved on June 17 the Decree-Law that creates the National Anti-Corruption Mechanism (Mecanismo Nacional Anticorrupção) and establishes the General Regime for the Prevention of Corruption (Regime Geral da Prevenção da Corrupção).

These measures will have a strong impact on medium and large companies, especially the General Regime for the Prevention of Corruption, which provides for important obligations for public and private companies in terms of the implementation of certain actions aimed at preventing corruption.

The General Regime for the Prevention of Corruption establishes in particular the obligation of private companies employing 50 or more employees to adopt risk prevention programs, codes of conduct, reporting channels and training programs suitable for the prevention of the practice of acts of corruption and related offenses.

These obligations are also applicable to public legal entities and services that are directly or indirectly part of the administration of the State, autonomous regions and local authorities and to legal persons belonging to the public business sector, provided that they employ 50 or more employees.

The National Anti-Corruption Mechanism is defined as an independent administrative body, being a legal entity under public law with public authority powers, empowered with administrative and financial autonomy, which will develop national-level activity in the field of prevention of corruption and related offenses.

The National Anti-Corruption Mechanism will be the entity responsible for monitoring compliance with the measures established in the General Regime for the Prevention of Corruption.

The publication of the Decree-Law that will implement these measures and define their entry into force is still pending.