The new corporate offence of failing to prevent bribery will provide a lucrative seam of work for lawyers as companies seek to ensure their anti-corruption compliance systems are fit for purpose, experts have predicted.

The offence is one of a raft of measures introduced in the Bribery Act, which received Royal Assent following its emergence from the Parliamentary wash-up last week.

The act creates a defence to the new corporate offence if companies can show they have in place ‘adequate procedures’ to prevent bribery, although what constitutes this has yet to be defined by government.

Jeremy Summers, business crime and regulation partner at national firm Russell Jones & Walker, said: ‘The act’s provisions will be in force by the end of the year. Companies must now urgently ensure that their anti-corruption compliance systems are fit for purpose or face the real possibility of hefty fines, confiscation and debarment.’

He said there will be more work for lawyers on compliance issues. ‘Insofar as it’s clear that companies need to have processes and procedures that address the issue of corruption, there’ll be more work for solicitors to help them address this to avoid the risk of prosecution,’ he added.

Monty Raphael, consultant at London firm Peters & Peters, said: ‘Solicitors need to familiarise themselves with the new offences created by this act… There’s an opportunity to give [preventive] advice to their business clients so that they will be able to satisfy the "adequate procedure" test in the act.’

However, Andrew Pickin, commercial partner at national firm Shoosmiths, said it remained to be seen whether the act would bring about an increase in the number of prosecutions, following budget cuts at the Serious Fraud Office.