Most governments are not meeting their international commitments to clamp down on bribery and corruption in international business, with only five signatories to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention having sanctioned individuals or companies in the past year, according to an OECD report released today.
OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría will urge ministers and business leaders attending an OECD/G20 anti-corruption conference at the OECD on 27 and 28 April to step up enforcement and compliance with the landmark treaty.
“Despite some progress in the past year, we need to see clearer signs that all countries are committing the political leadership and resources that effective enforcement requires,” Mr. Gurría said. “The US and Germany continue to set the benchmark in the fight against corruption that more countries must follow. It’s encouraging that France, Switzerland and the UK were active last year in sanctioning bribery.”
Five of the 38 nations that are signatories to the Convention imposed penalties on individuals or firms last year: the U.S. sanctioned 8 individuals and 11 companies; Germany sanctioned 3 individuals; France and Switzerland 1 individual; and the UK 2 individuals and 1 company. 260 investigations are currently ongoing in Convention countries.
Since the Convention came into force into 1999, 199 individuals and 91 companies have been sanctioned for foreign bribery offenses. But most parties to the Convention have yet to sanction any individual or company.
G20 countries adopted at their Seoul Summit in November 2010 an Anti-Corruption Action Plan for “combating corruption, promoting market integrity and supporting a clean businesss environment.” The Plan calls on G20 countries not Party to the Anti-Bribery Convention to more closely with the OECD Working Group on Bribery or join the Convention. The countries are China, India, Indonesia, Russia and Saudi Arabia.
Russia asked to join the Convention in February 2009. China passed laws to criminalise foreign bribery in February 2011. Indonesia prepared draft legislation in March 2011 and a bill has been presented to the Indian parliament to prohibit bribes to foreign public officials.
Journalists can attend the last session of the OECD/G20 conference 'Joining forces against corruption: G20 business and government' on Thursday 28 April 2011 from 12.30 p.m to 1.00 p.m. OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría will close the session, together with Christine Lagarde, Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry, France, and Laurence Parisot, President, French employer’s association, MEDEF.
Mr. Gurría and Mme Lagarde will hold a press conference from 1.00 p.m. to discuss the conclusions of the meeting. To register, journalists should email news.contact@oecd.org or call the OECD Media division (tel. + 33 1 45 24 97 00).
The conference, jointly organised with the French G20 Presidency and with the support of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), will bring together business leaders to discuss the challenges they face. These include compliance and best practices, public procurement, sectorial initiatives and commercial practices most exposed to corruption. It aims to build an understanding of the G20 goals between business and participating countries.
The OECD Working Group in Bribery Annual Report is available here
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