ted talks
TED TALKS...
‘s 0 In 2010 the Bribery Act was passed into law in the United Kingdom.
The act made bribery a criminal offence, punishable with up to 10 years’ imprisonment. This legal development is reflected in this new Bloodstock Industry Code of Practice, which is designed to prevent serious malpractice in the bloodstock sales industry, including by banning: (a) bribery (whether described as “Luck Money” or not); (b) acting for both sides on a sale without prior informed consent; and (c) the practice of collusive “bidding up”
T
Self-regulation
HE MODERNISATION OF the code of practice for buying and selling horses has taken the whole of lockdown and more to develop from a simple one-page document, originally developed during Paul Roy’s tenure of Portman Square. The driving force back then was Henry Beeby and the first steps to a regulated industry were begun. In our industry, rumours of inappropriate financial transactions swirl around the sales grounds every year. The BHA, and Nick Rust, in particular, as a result of various
16
approaches, commissioned a report in which many people were interviewed to identify wrong doing, reportedly found in five or so cases. The BHA vowed to take these cases through the legal system – and the report was leaked to the Racing Post for a series of sensationalised articles. The industry subsequently responded very positively to the recommendations and a committee of stakeholders was formed to address the findings of the damming report. I sat on the original Paul Roy committee alongside Henry Beeby, but was not chosen to be
www.internationalthoroughbred.net
interviewed by the BHA (which to this day I found strange). Subsequently, the TBA asked me to represent the breeders on the new forum. Illegal transactions need two to tango and, if illegal transactions are/ were rife, indeed we must do everything to stamp them out. Many smaller breeders had concerns. To date the BHA’s five cases have not been prosecuted, probably due to the lack of concrete evidence. The new industry code addresses many of the BHA’s findings and enables the industry to self-regulate its business, a bit like the financial services
act in the City of London that governs hedge funds, banks and investments. I think we have made a huge step forward – it is not complete but it will shows the industry that, if we have a problem, it will be forced to address abuse of the system legally. The new code is robust and independent. The code covers both auction sales and also private transactions. So how, and where, will we see its implementation when we go to the sales? Already the Tattersalls entry forms have included a section forcing those involved to accept
