Bribery – Corporate Gifts and Entertainment – in Singapore

Understanding How Singapore Law Criminalises Bribery

Like many countries, Singapore law criminalises bribery. The Prevention of Corruption Act 1960 (PCA) broadly defines corruption as a bribe offered in return for a favour. The bribe can be monetary or non-monetary nature. It is enforced by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), an independent agency responsible for the investigation and prevention of corruption in Singapore. It is the world’s oldest anti-corruption agency established in 1952 by the British colonial government. (Singapore has been an independent country since 1965.)

Like many other countries, it is customary in Singapore to give gifts to both family members and to business associates to celebrate various festivals and events throughout the year. For example and in addition to the probably well-known Chinese New Year, there is the Mid-Autumn Festival and the F1 Grand Prix Singapore Night Race. In 2025, both are coming up in early October.

Local businesses in Singapore and international companies with operations in Singapore should have policies and processes in place to deal with gifts and entertainment appropriately.

The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth month in the traditional Chinese lunar calendar. On the night of the festival, people celebrate the full moon and give thanks for the Autumn harvest.  To mark the Mid-Autumn Festival, gifts of mooncakes are typically given, including to business associates. Moon cakes are calorie rich treats, with gifts easily costing up to $100 and sometimes more. To refuse a gift of mooncakes, even with an explanation such as ‘my company doesn’t allow me to accept’ is, to say the least, difficult if one is to avoid giving offence.

The F1 Grand Prix is perhaps more widely known, with gifts ranging from one – or even more – evenings being wined and dined in a corporate box to seat tickets, ‘walk around’ tickets and tickets to musical entertainment (including a mooted performance by Elton John).  Here costs range from, say, $1,000 to ‘the sky is the limit’. In this case, at least anecdotally, gift givers are somewhat accustomed to refusal of invitations with an explanation such as ‘my company doesn’t allow me to accept’.

Businesses need to develop and implement a written policy setting out what gifts, including entertainment, are acceptable. The policy would include any approval processes that are required by the company to be followed. In other words, acceptance or not should not be left for individuals to decide on an ad hoc basis.

Where international companies have operations in Singapore, simply applying a global policy to Singapore is typically not appropriate. The reasons for inappropriateness vary with the circumstances, but generally a policy that prohibits acceptance of any gifts simply results in conduct violating the policy to be ‘driven underground’ – for example, where an employee whose performance assessment depends on sales has the choice between (a) violating a company gifts policy; and (b) offending a prospective customer, the employee will typically choose option (a).

Typically, we see policies that:

(1)  prohibit gifts entirely if their value is more than a specified amount;

(2)  provides for edible gifts – such as mooncakes – to be unwrapped and left in the company’s tea/break room for employees generally to enjoy;

(3)  provides for other gifts – such as flowers, tickets to events – to be raffled among all employees: that is, for there to be a method, often supervised by HR, under which all employees will have an equal opportunity to ‘win’ the gift.

It takes time to work out what is going to be most appropriate for an organisation to include in a gifts and entertainment policy that is sensible for its business in Singapore. And to gain corporate, such as HQ, approval for it. Organisations that don’t have an existing policy should start work without delay; organisation that do have an existing policy will likely to well to review it to make sure it is, and continues to be, fit for purpose.