Skip to main content
Menu Icon
Close

FCPA Scorecard Blog

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act & Anti-Corruption

Anti-Corruption Group Releases Annual Report on Enforcement of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention

Transparency International

On October 23, the anti-corruption group Transparency International released its annual progress report on the enforcement of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ("OECD") anti-bribery convention.   The 41 signatories of the 1997 Anti-Bribery Convention are, among other things, obligated to investigate credible allegations of corruption and, where appropriate, to prosecute those who offer, promise, or give bribes to foreign public  officials and subject those parties to effective and dissuasive penalties. In its report, Transparency International found that only four of the 41 signatories to the convention are actively investigating and prosecuting companies that bribe foreign officials.  Those four leading enforcers — Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States — completed or initiated 282 cases from 2010-2013. The other 37 signatories to the convention, who account for 77% of world exports, completed or initiated only 73 cases during the same time period.  According to Transparency International, enforcement of corruption is low "because investigators lack political backing to go after big companies, especially where the considerations of national economic interest trump anti-corruption commitments."  Furthermore, investigators often lack the resources to investigate complex corruption cases.  Transparency Intentional found that Canada was the only country to show significant improvement since last year's report, having, among other things, significantly improved its foreign bribery law.