Yes, legal bribes are how most of the Anglo-Saxon world works. For example, if I want certain favours from the current UK government, I can give a friend of mine an interest-free loan for him to donate significant sums of money to the current ruling party (Tories). You get away with this as long as there is no written record and just a discussion on the golf club. Not surprisingly, the government may then award you lucrative contracts or change the law in subtle ways that are in your favour.
Of course, the friend in question will then get endorsed for a lucrative position, a cushy consultancy job or a non-executive board membership.
> I want certain favours from the current UK government, I can give a friend of mine an interest-free loan for him to donate significant sums of money to the current ruling party (Tories). You get away with this as long as there is no written record
Having seen this in action (UK, Tory government) ... you are taking too many steps and too much complication. You donate publicly, on the register, to the party, candidates, (leadership candidates) etc. They give you things you ask for. The entire "scheme" is far more transparent than you think. It is also much cheaper than you think.
The expensive path is to literally hire a sitting member of parliament to your company and then you also get things you ask for.
The system works(/worked) extremely well because the people involved had some class and would only ask and take within reason. If you know, you know.
* A friend asks me to borrow $400K. He is a good friend, and I am happy to help him out
* A few months later, he decides to donate $200K to a political party that happens to be in power at the time
* The government makes certain decisions that appear to be in my favour. I discussed that certain changes would be helpful but never asked for them directly.
Basically, it is a gentleman's agreement where no party involved explicitly asked for anything. Illegal in the spirit of the law, yes, provable in court beyond a reasonable doubt, no.
As another poster highlighted, you don't even need to use a friend in the UK, you can donate directly. The price of a seat in the House of Lords is £400,000 ($500K), but you can get other political favours much cheaper.
Illegal means it is beyond reasonable doubt that there has been a violation of the law. People do not get thrown in jail for donating money to political parties.
Suggesting ideas to political parties is also not illegal.
It is only illegal if the money is donated for the sole purpose of influencing a particular decision.
Anti-bribery laws authorise the use of bribes under narrow circumstances:
Particularly if the bribe seems to be necessary for safety of life (e.g. although you can clearly see the hospital has empty beds and equipment, the nursing staff assure you that your employee can't be helped and must just die here in the waiting room, sure enough once they have been bribed suitably the employee is given a bed and treatment begins). The bribe must be properly reported, both as a business expense and specifically as a bribe paid.
It is also certainly true that countries with global anti-bribery laws (including the US and UK) definitely don't actually enforce those laws when it comes to arms sales or other government authorised activity that frequently involves corrupt foreign governments. But that's just an ordinary example of "Do as I say, not as I do".
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-54922374
from the article "As of 1996, about half of the countries in the OECD allowed companies to deduct bribes paid to foreign officials from their taxes, including Germany, France, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland. They argued that such practices were routine business expenses in some countries."
Unlike the other responses, I will provide a more mundane example that's hopefully more relatable: Giving your mailman or deliveryman a can of coke/pepsi as a token of appreciation.
Next time, they're going to be more careful and timely handling your package, and you'll keep asking if they want a drink. It's unfair, because you will get special treatment compared to those who don't, but we're all human and everyone's happier. This is legal bribery.
Are there also legal bribes?