Corruption offenses in business are regulated in arts. 286 bis to 286 quater of the Penal Code.

Corruption between private individuals in the economic traffic

The following conducts are punished through the crime of corruption between private parties:

1. On the one hand, the crime of passive private bribery punishes the director, administrator, employee or collaborator of a commercial enterprise who receives, requests or accepts an unjustified benefit as consideration for unduly favoring another in commercial relations. This behavior carries a prison sentence of 6 months to 4 years, special disqualification from the exercise of industry or commerce for a period of 1 to 6 years and a fine of three times the value of the benefit.

For example, this crime is committed by the purchasing manager of a company who, faced with offers from four different suppliers, chooses the least competitive one in exchange for the 10,000 euros offered by that supplier.

It is not a crime to give gifts of courtesy, provided they are socially appropriate. This social appropriateness is assessed on a case-by-case basis and the Courts take into account the type of gift or advantage offered, its frequency, the importance of the commercial transaction…

1. On the other hand, the crime of active private bribery punishes, with the aforementioned penalty, the person who promises, offers or grants to managers, administrators, employees or collaborators of a commercial enterprise, an unjustified benefit or advantage, as consideration for unduly favoring him/her over others in commercial relations.

In both cases, the Judge may impose the lower penalty in degree and reduce the amount of the fine, depending on the amount of the benefit and the importance of the functions of the guilty party.

Corruption in sports

The previously described conducts are also punishable when they are committed by directors, administrators, employees or collaborators of a sports entity, as well as by athletes, referees or judges, when they seek to deliberately and fraudulently alter the result of a sporting event or competition of special economic or sporting relevance.

Which sports competitions are of special relevance? Those competitions in which most of the participants receive a remuneration, compensation or economic income, as well as those that are qualified in the annual sports calendar approved by the corresponding sports federation as official competitions of the highest category of the modality.

This crime is committed by the manager of a La Liga soccer club who pays 400,000 euros to several players to allow them to win a match, thus favoring the victory of the team to which the manager belonged.

Bribery in international business transactions

Finally, Art. 286 ter of the Criminal Code punishes persons who, by offering an undue advantage, corrupt or attempt to corrupt an authority or public official, or attend to their requests in this regard, in order that they act or refrain from acting in connection with the exercise of public functions in order to obtain any competitive advantage in the conduct of international economic activities. The penalty to be imposed is imprisonment for 3 to 6 years and a fine of 12 to 24 months or three times the amount of the benefit, in addition to disqualification from contracting with the public sector and from obtaining subsidies, public aid or tax or Social Security benefits for a period of 7 to 12 years.

Aggravated modalities

If any of the circumstances foreseen in Article 286 quater of the Criminal Code are present, the facts are punished with a higher penalty. Specifically, the penalty is imposed in the upper half of the sentence, with the possibility of reaching the upper half in degree, when the facts are particularly serious, due to the high value of the benefit obtained, because the action of the perpetrator is not occasional, because the facts are committed by an organization or criminal group, or because the object of the business affects goods of prime necessity.

Criminal liability of legal persons

Legal persons may be punished for the commission of a business corruption offense, in which case the penalty to be imposed shall be:

1. A fine of 2 to 5 years or three to five times the profit obtained, if the crime committed by the natural person is punishable by more than 2 years of imprisonment.
2. Fine from 6 months to 2 years or from 6 months to 2 years or twice the amount of the benefit obtained, in the other cases.

Likewise, the Judge may impose the penalties of dissolution, suspension of activities, closure of premises, prohibition to carry out activities in the future, special disqualification to obtain subsidies and public aid and judicial intervention.