The oil and gas industry has topped a list of sectors expected to be hit hardest by the Bribery Act, research from Ernst & Young has shown.

The consultancy firm ranked the top ten sectors most at risk of investigation under the Bribery Act based on analysis of bribery convictions by the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

David Lister, a director at the firm’s Fraud Investigations and Dispute Services team, explained that the FCPA data is a “useful template” for how the enforcement of the Bribery Act may play out in the UK and worldwide.

Life sciences and consumer products came second and third respectively in the rankings of most affected sectors.

But Lister said: “There is no suggestion that individuals and companies within the oil and gas sector [or other sectors on the list] are intrinsically more corrupt than their counterparts in other sectors. Rather, it is the nature and locations of their businesses that exposes them to additional risk.”

Lister added: “Despite the additional clarity afforded by the recent Bribery Act guidance, the lack of clarity on facilitation payments really doesn’t help oil and gas companies, which tend to work in sectors where these business practices still unfortunately remain part and parcel of everyday business.”

Analysts from the firm reviewed 118 FCPA cases involving 242 companies (including subsidiaries) and about 167 prosecutions.

The most likely outcome of prosecution are civil penalties (30), followed by criminal fines (29) and plea agreements (28), while only 3 per cent of all investigations have resulted in no action being taken.

Focusing on the top three sectors, oil and gas companies accounted for 18 per cent of all prosecutions, life sciences 13 per cent and consumer products 12 per cent.

Criminal fines topped the list for all three sectors as the most likely outcome of an FCPA investigation, followed by civil injunctions for oil and gas companies, compliance monitors for life sciences organisations and civil penalties in the consumer products sector.

The research did not show a direct link between bribery and corruption convictions and long term share price performance across any sector.

However, company management cannot be complacent as reputational risk remains a key factor in performance and individuals can be fined and even imprisoned when the Bribery Act is enacted, the firm said.

The Bribery Act is set to come into force in July.