What are Facilitation Payments?
Payments to a public official intended to secure or expedite routine or necessary government or official action.
A facilitation payment can include a payment to a public official to do his or her job properly as well as payment to do it improperly (see below). Facilitation payments are a particular form of bribery that may also be referred to as ‘kickbacks’, ‘backhanders’, or ‘grease payments’.
Improper performance
Improper performance is a failure to perform a function or activity in good faith, impartially or in accordance with a position of trust. This can include not performing the function at all, performing it incompletely, or only performing it in return for facilitation payments. In deciding whether a function or activity has been performed improperly outside the UK, the Bribery Act directs that any local custom or practice must be disregarded unless it is permitted or required by the written law of the country in which it is performed.