Colombia’s Law 2195 of 2022 embodies the government’s efforts to enhance the provisions for preventing corruption and strengthen current regulations related to transnational bribery. The major innovations set out in Law 2195 are the following:
- The law addresses the liability of companies, legal entities in general, and branches of foreign companies for corruption offenses
- It sets out new sanctions against legal entities for transnational bribery and
- It promotes a compliance culture in the private sector.
Law 2195 of 2022 reflects the state’s compliance with its obligation to design and implement instruments that limit illegal conduct in the relationship between the public and private sectors.
This article discusses these innovations.
Administrative sanctions against legal entities and branches of foreign companies for corruption offenses
Law 2195 establishes that (i) legal entities; (ii) branches of foreign companies; (iii) legal entities that form temporary unions or consortiums; (iv) industrial and commercial entities of the state; (v) mixed-economy entities; and (vi) nonprofit entities (the “legal entities”), when domiciled in Colombia, can be subject to the administrative sanctions and thus be held responsible for acts of corruption, when:
