The Netherlands is failing to vigorously pursue foreign bribery allegations and must do more to enforce its foreign bribery laws. Fourteen out of 22 foreign bribery allegations have not triggered the opening of an investigation, calling into question the Netherlands’ ability and proactivity in investigating and prosecuting this crime.

Spain’s enforcement of its foreign bribery laws has been extremely low, with not a single prosecution out of only seven investigations in 13 years since joining the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention. Spain must vigorously pursue foreign bribery allegations and strengthen its legal framework for fighting bribery by addressing gaps in its Penal Code, says a new OECD report.

Denmark’s enforcement of its foreign bribery laws has been weak. Only 13 foreign bribery allegations have surfaced, and sanctions have been imposed in just one case that falls under the Convention. Law enforcement authorities have not been sufficiently proactive, and cases have been prematurely closed without complete investigations. Denmark must take more investigative steps and make greater efforts to gather evidence from abroad.

The Czech government must urgently engage with the private sector to raise awareness, says a new OECD report. The awareness of the Czech foreign bribery offence remains regrettably low among companies, despite the recent adoption of a comprehensive corporate liability regime that holds Czech companies liable for this crime.

Co-organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the OECD in New Delhi, discussions at this seminar focused on corruption challenges facing Indian companies today and what can be done to overcome these challenges.

Portugal’s enforcement of its foreign bribery laws has been extremely low. Not a single prosecution has resulted from 15 allegations of Portuguese companies bribing foreign officials in high-risk countries.

The current Polish framework for fighting foreign bribery is still inadequate to fully meet foreign bribery risks resulting from Poland’s growing economy, says a new OECD report.

The OECD Working Group on Bribery has designated Slovenian national Drago Kos to serve as the Group’s new Chair.

Russia has yet to address key provisions of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, which entered into force in Russia in April 2012. It has not yet fully implemented recommendations for strengthening its framework for combating foreign bribery and should be more proactive in detecting, investigating and prosecuting foreign bribery cases.

Fighting foreign bribery is not a priority in Belgium. Together with the flagrant lack of resources for Belgian law enforcement authorities, this has resulted in very few foreign bribery investigations and prosecutions. In the 14 years since the entry into force of the foreign bribery offence in Belgium, only one case of bribery of foreign public officials has been concluded.

New Zealand must significantly increase its efforts to detect, investigate and prosecute foreign bribery. Since joining the Convention over 12 years ago, New Zealand has not prosecuted any cases of foreign bribery and only four allegations have surfaced to date. Outdated perceptions that New Zealand individuals and companies do not bribe may have also undermined detection efforts.

This roundtable focused on the impact the Anti-Bribery Convention has had on the global anti-bribery agenda since its entry into force in 1999, as well as what should be done to ensure the Convention's continued relevance going forward.

The OECD Working Group on Bribery will release a report tomorrow Wednesday 18 December at 12.00 CET/11.00 Dublin time on Ireland’s efforts to fight foreign bribery.

Ireland should increase its resources to detect and investigate foreign bribery more efficiently. Resources have, in recent years, been largely devoted to investigating non-bribery cases in the financial sector. Ireland has not prosecuted a foreign bribery case in the twelve years since its foreign bribery offence came into force, and law enforcement has taken few proactive steps to investigate allegations.

Chile has made positive efforts to implement the Convention, but there has not been a single foreign bribery conviction. Chile did not sufficiently investigate several of the six foreign bribery allegations that have surfaced since 2001. Chile should improve its investigative and detection efforts, says OECD

South Africa must take urgent steps to proactively investigate and prosecute foreign bribery. No foreign bribery cases have been prosecuted since South Africa joined the Convention in 2007. The 4 on-going investigations – out of only 10 allegations that have surfaced to date – are also far from reaching the prosecution stage, according to a new report by the OECD Working Group on Bribery.

Latvia has taken an important step on the road to OECD membership by completing the process to become a member of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention. Latvia will become the 41st Party to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention on 30 May 2014.

Estonia’s framework for combating foreign bribery may be inadequate to efficiently tackle rising foreign bribery risks resulting from its increasingly export-intensive economy.

Serious steps must be taken by Slovenia to ensure that it effectively detects, investigates and prosecutes allegations of transnational bribery.

The OECD Working Group on Bribery supports Spain’s efforts to further reform its Penal Code to bring its anti-bribery law into line with its international obligations under the OECD Convention on Combatting Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions.

Due to serious concerns about the extremely low level of enforcement of Japan’s offence of bribing foreign public officials – just three prosecutions since 1999 – the OECD Working Group on Bribery recommended in December 2013 that Japan establish an Action Plan to organise police and prosecution resources to be able to proactively detect, investigate and prosecute cases of foreign bribery by Japanese companies.

Turkey is a significant and geopolitically critical economy. Its companies, like those from many other countries, operate in corruption-prone sectors and countries. In spite of this, only 10 allegations have come to the attention of Turkish authorities since foreign bribery became an offence in Turkey in 2003.

After a comprehensive review in October 2012, the OECD Working Group on Bribery asked France, through a series of concrete recommendations, to intensify its actions to fight the bribery of foreign public officials and undertake important reforms.

Brazil must build on the positive momentum started with its new Corporate Liability Law and its first indictments in one foreign bribery case to investigate and prosecute more proactively foreign bribery.

Most international bribes are paid by large companies, usually with the knowledge of senior management, according to new OECD analysis of the cost of foreign bribery and corruption.

The OECD Foreign Bribery Report was launched by the OECD Secretary-General in Paris on 2 December 2014. This ground breaking report analyses data emerging from all foreign bribery enforcement actions concluded since the entry into force of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention and for the first time ‘measures’ the crime of corruption.

The OECD Working Group on Bribery invited public comments on the next phase of country monitoring under the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention between 5 November and 1 December 2014. The call for comment is now closed.

On the occasion of International Anti-Corruption Day, this Working Group on Bribery consultation with the private sector and civil society focused on the development of the Phase 4 evaluation process of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention.

The OECD Working Group on Bribery doubts Argentina’s commitment to fight foreign bribery. Argentina still has no law to punish companies for foreign bribery or prosecute its citizens who commit this crime abroad. Widespread delays continue to plague complex economic crime investigations.

This page contains all information relating to implementation of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention in France.

One of the more startling findings in the OECD Foreign Bribery Report, is that some level of corporate management was involved in over 50% of the cases sanctioned. This paper by Leah Ambler, published in the Journal of Business Compliance (01/2015), examines what went wrong and why from a corporate governance and compliance perspective.

The OECD Working Group on Bribery will release a review of Greece’s efforts to fight foreign bribery on Friday 20 March 2015 at 11.00 CET.

The risk of Greek companies bribing foreign officials is substantial, but Greece has not given the same priority to fighting foreign bribery as it has to domestic corruption.

The OECD Working Group on Bribery has serious concerns about Iceland’s lack of progress in combatting the bribery of foreign public officials, and to implement the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions.

The OECD Working Group on Bribery will release a review of Israel’s efforts to fight foreign bribery on Wednesday 24 June 2015 at 11.00 CET.

Israel is not sufficiently proactive in detecting and investigating foreign bribery, with no prosecutions over the past 7 years, despite 14 allegations of foreign bribery involving Israeli individuals or companies. The OECD Working Group on Bribery is, however, encouraged by the recently-opened investigations, and will pay close attention to how these evolve.

The OECD Working Group on Bribery will release a review of Colombia’s efforts to fight foreign bribery on Wednesday 21 October 2015 at 09.00 Bogota time/16.00 CET.

Colombia needs to improve its capacity to investigate foreign bribery by establishing an effective corporate liability regime, improving coordination between its numerous agencies and more rigorously training law enforcement, according to a new report by the OECD Working Group on Bribery.

Latvia has improved its laws since acceding to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention in 2014. Yet serious personnel issues until recently as well as negative government commentary concerning KNAB, Latvia’s anti-corruption law enforcement agency, have cast doubts over its capacity to enforce those laws.

International Anti-Corruption Day provides us all with a unique opportunity to reflect on the progress we have made over the past year in the global fight against corruption, but also to think about the work that remains to be done in the years ahead.

The OECD Working Group on Bribery has serious concerns regarding Belgium’s limited efforts to comply with the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention.

The OECD Working Group on Bribery expresses its serious concern with Finland’s continued failure to implement the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention.

The OECD Working Group on Bribery expresses its serious concern regarding the situation of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (CPC) in Slovenia.

Bribery in international business undermines good governance and economic development, perpetuates poverty and distorts international competition.

Ministers and representatives from the 41 State Parties to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention have reaffirmed their commitment to continued implementation of the Convention and called for robust enforcement of their anti-foreign bribery laws.

16 March 2016, Paris: Chaired by the Italian Minister of Justice, Andrea Orlando, the OECD will host a Ministerial Meeting on the Anti-Bribery Convention to discuss measures to strengthen implementation of the Convention and to exchange ideas on combating foreign bribery and emerging issues.

A high-level Working Group mission will visit Buenos Aires on 26-27 April 2016 and meet senior Argentine government officials.

A high-level Working Group mission will visit Tokyo on 29-30 June 2016 and meet senior Japanese government officials.

The OECD Working Group on Bribery in International Transactions has continuously urged Japan since 2002 to strengthen its efforts to fight bribery by Japanese companies in their foreign business activities, and implementation of the Convention on Combating the Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions.

Ireland still needs to make substantial progress on key recommendations issued three times since March 2007 by the OECD Working Group on Bribery with regard to improving its domestic criminal law as it applies to bribery by Irish individuals and companies in their international business transactions.