German Anti-Corruption Legislation

German anti-corruption provisions are contained in the Criminal Code and the Administrative Offences Act. The Criminal Code’s provisions apply to persons, while companies face civil responsibility under the Administrative Offences Act. Corruption offences committed abroad can be enforced in Germany.

Criminal Code

The Criminal Code ( Strafgesetzbuch ) makes it a criminal offence for a person to offer, pay or accept a bribe in domestic or foreign transactions, and it provides no exception for facilitation payments. Active and passive bribery of employees or agents of a company is criminal even if it does not involve a distortion of competition. Executive managers can be held responsible for offences committed by company representatives where they actively support or fail to stop the offence. Persons convicted of bribery offences face up to 10 years’ imprisonment, a criminal fine and confiscation of revenue obtained as a result of the offence. The Criminal Code applies to offences committed abroad and can be enforced in Germany. While the criminal provisions apply to persons, companies are potentially civilly responsible under the Administrative Offences Act.

Administrative Offences Act

The Administrative Offences Act ( Ordnungswidrigkeitengesetz ) holds companies civilly responsible for corruption offences committed on behalf of the company. The owners and management can be held responsible for intentionally or negligently omitting necessary supervisory measures for preventing criminal offences. The maximum fine is EUR 10 million for each intentional criminal offence and EUR 5 million for each negligent criminal offence. The penalty can exceed those amounts without limitation to allow authorities to confiscate benefits obtained from the corruption offences.

Germany Compliance Guide
German Penal Code (Full Text)
German Anti-Corruption Law (in German)
Administrative Offences Act (Full Text)