Anti-Corruption Policy Chile (Política Anticorrupción)

Anti-Corruption Policy Chile (Política Anticorrupción) is a specialized compliance document addressing the criminal liability of both natural persons and legal entities for bribery and corrupt practices under Chilean law, principally Ley N° 20.393/2009 sobre Responsabilidad Penal de las Personas Jurídicas, the Código Penal de Chile Articles 248 through 251 bis, and Chile's international anti-corruption obligations under the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, ratified by Chile through Decreto Supremo N° 1.293/1999 published in the Diario Oficial.

The Código Penal de Chile establishes multiple bribery offenses applicable to both the official receiving the bribe (soborno pasivo) and the person or company offering or paying the bribe (soborno activo / cohecho activo). Article 248 defines soborno pasivo (passive bribery) for public officials — a public employee (empleado público) who solicits or accepts a benefit (beneficio económico) in exchange for performing or omitting an official act. Article 250 defines cohecho activo (active bribery) — the criminal liability of the person (natural or legal) who offers, gives, or promises an undue advantage to a public official to influence their official conduct. Article 251 bis, added by Ley N° 21.121/2018, establishes criminal liability for bribery of foreign public officials (cohecho a funcionario público extranjero) — making Chile the first Latin American country to implement the OECD Convention offense domestically with criminal penalties for both individuals and companies.

Ley N° 20.393/2009 extends the criminal liability for cohecho (Arts. 250 and 251 bis) and other predicate offenses to legal entities (personas jurídicas) — companies, corporations, foundations, and other organizations. Under Art. 3, a legal entity is criminally liable when a predicate offense is committed by a director, manager, employee, or agent of the entity in the exercise of their functions, directly benefiting the entity, and the entity failed to adequately prevent the offense through a modelo de prevención de delitos (Art. 4). The Ministerio Público (Fiscalía de Chile), specifically the Fiscalía Especializada en Anticorrupción, investigates and prosecutes corruption cases involving both private sector companies and public officials.

Chile's anti-corruption framework extends beyond criminal law to administrative law. The Contraloría General de la República audits public entities and contracting processes, investigating irregularities and referring cases to the Ministerio Público. The Comisión para el Mercado Financiero (CMF) investigates market manipulation, insider trading, and corrupt practices by regulated entities. The Fiscalía Nacional Económica (FNE) investigates cartel offenses (colusión) under Ley N° 19.911, which was added as a predicate offense under Ley N° 21.121/2018. Public procurement corruption in ChileCompra (Mercado Público) is investigated by both the Contraloría and the Ministerio Público.

Chile has signed and ratified multiple international anti-corruption instruments: the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention (1999); the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC — Convención de las Naciones Unidas contra la Corrupción, ratified through Decreto Supremo N° 375/2009); and the OAS Inter-American Convention Against Corruption (CICC — Convención Interamericana contra la Corrupción, ratified through Decreto Supremo N° 1.879/1999). These international obligations have shaped Chile's domestic anti-corruption law and create compliance expectations for companies operating across borders.

An Anti-Corruption Policy Chile is essential for all companies operating in Chile that interact with public officials, participate in public procurement, engage in regulated industries, or have international operations subject to foreign anti-corruption laws.

Companies that contract with the Chilean government through ChileCompra (Mercado Público) — including construction companies, IT service providers, food suppliers, healthcare product distributors, and professional services firms — are at elevated corruption risk in public procurement and need formal Anti-Corruption Policies as part of their modelo de prevención de delitos under Ley N° 20.393. The Contraloría General de la República regularly audits procurement processes and has referred numerous cases to the Ministerio Público.

Mining companies and their service suppliers operating in Chile's mining sector — including suppliers to Codelco (the world's largest copper producer, a state enterprise), Antofagasta Minerals, SQM (Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile), BHP Chile, and Anglo American Chile — need Anti-Corruption Policies that address the specific risks of interactions with Codelco officials (classified as public officials under Chilean law), SERNAGEOMIN (Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería) inspectors, and other mining regulatory authorities.

Pharmaceutical companies, medical device distributors, and healthcare service providers interacting with CENABAST (Central de Abastecimiento del Sistema Nacional de Servicios de Salud), hospital procurement committees (comités de adquisiciones de hospitales públicos), MINSAL officials, and ISAPREs regulated by the Superintendencia de Salud need Anti-Corruption Policies addressing the healthcare sector's elevated corruption risk identified in OECD and Transparency International evaluations.

Multinational companies with Chilean operations that are subject to the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the UK Bribery Act 2010, or equivalent foreign anti-corruption laws need Chile-specific Anti-Corruption Policies that satisfy both local Ley N° 20.393 requirements and their global parent compliance programs. The US Department of Justice and the UK Serious Fraud Office have conducted investigations involving Chilean subsidiaries of US and UK companies.

Financial institutions regulated by the CMF — banks, insurance companies, corredoras de bolsa (stockbrokers), administradoras de fondos — need Anti-Corruption Policies that address the specific risks identified in FATF (Financial Action Task Force — Grupo de Acción Financiera / GAFILAT) evaluations of Chile's anti-corruption and anti-money laundering framework.

A compliant Anti-Corruption Policy Chile under Ley N° 20.393/2009 and Código Penal Arts. 248–251 must include the following essential elements:

Zero-Tolerance Declaration (Declaración de Tolerancia Cero): An unequivocal statement from the company's senior leadership (directorio and gerente general) declaring zero tolerance for bribery, corruption, and undue payments in all forms — direct bribery, indirect bribery through third parties (intermediarios), facilitation payments (pagos de facilitación), and any form of quid pro quo arrangement with public officials (funcionarios públicos under Ley N° 18.575) or private sector counterparties. The statement must apply globally to all operations, not only to Chile.

Definitions (Definiciones): Clear definitions of: bribery (cohecho/soborno) — offering, giving, promising, or authorizing anything of value to a public official or private person to influence their conduct; facilitation payment (pago de facilitación) — small payments to low-level officials to expedite routine administrative processes; public official (funcionario público) — as defined by Código Penal Art. 260, including employees of all state organs (órganos del Estado), municipalities (municipalidades), state-owned enterprises (empresas del Estado — Codelco, ENAP, BancoEstado, TVN), armed forces, and international public officials; and advantage or benefit (beneficio or ventaja) — any economic or non-economic advantage, including gifts, entertainment, employment offers, scholarships, charitable donations made at the request of an official, and sponsorships.

Prohibited Conduct (Conductas Prohibidas): An explicit enumeration of prohibited conduct: paying or offering bribes to public officials (cohecho activo under Código Penal Art. 250); bribing foreign public officials (cohecho a funcionario público extranjero under Art. 251 bis); making facilitation payments to any official to expedite routine government processes; offering or accepting gifts, entertainment, or hospitality that exceeds established thresholds or creates an obligation; soliciting or accepting bribes from third parties (soborno pasivo under Art. 248 for officials; corrupción entre particulares under Art. 287 bis for private sector); engaging in cartel conduct (colusión under Ley N° 19.911) with competitors; manipulating public procurement processes (licitaciones públicas under Ley N° 19.886); and making political contributions that violate Ley N° 19.884/2003 on political financing.

Gifts, Hospitality, and Entertainment Limits (Límites de Regalos, Hospitalidad y Entretenimiento): Specific monetary thresholds and pre-approval requirements: gifts to public officials — prohibited in all cases (consistent with Ley Orgánica Constitucional de Bases Generales de la Administración del Estado Ley N° 18.575, which prohibits public officials from accepting gifts in connection with their duties); gifts to private sector counterparties — permitted up to a threshold (typically CLP 50,000–100,000) with disclosure required; hospitality (meals, events) — permitted up to a threshold with pre-approval for amounts exceeding the limit; and foreign officials — zero gifts consistent with OECD Convention obligations.

Third-Party Due Diligence (Debida Diligencia de Terceros): Mandatory anti-corruption due diligence for intermediaries, agents, consultants, distributors, joint venture partners, and other third parties acting on the company's behalf in interactions with public officials. Due diligence must include: background checks (verificación de antecedentes) through the Registro Civil, CMF, and commercial databases; review of ownership structure (estructura societaria) to identify beneficial owners (beneficiarios finales) under Ley N° 21.719/2024 and Ley N° 20.393; anti-corruption questionnaire (cuestionario anticorrupción); and contractual anti-corruption representations and warranties (declaraciones y garantías anticorrupción) in all third-party agreements.

Bookkeeping and Financial Controls (Controles Contables y Financieros): Internal controls to prevent fraudulent bookkeeping concealing corrupt payments: expense reporting procedures requiring supporting documentation (facturas and boletas issued under SII requirements); approval hierarchies for payments above threshold amounts; prohibition on cash payments to third parties above CLP 100,000 (consistent with Ley N° 20.780/2014 restrictions on cash transactions); and regular internal audit of expense accounts, petty cash, and entertainment budgets.

Reporting and Investigation (Canal de Denuncias e Investigaciones): A confidential reporting channel (canal de denuncia) for reporting corruption concerns, with protection from retaliation under Ley N° 21.361/2021. Investigation procedures for corruption allegations, including the role of the Encargado de Prevención, external legal counsel (abogados externos), and when to self-report to the Ministerio Público.

Forms-legal.com provides this Anti-Corruption Policy Chile template as a compliance reference. Companies should engage experienced Chilean abogados with expertise in Ley N° 20.393, Código Penal corruption offenses, and international anti-corruption law to design and implement a comprehensive anti-corruption program.