New OECD Report Will Help Fight Transnational Bribery

scalesToday, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development launched its Foreign Bribery Report in Paris. The report presents an analysis of foreign bribery cases that have been concluded since 1999, and it is intended to help combat transnational corruption.

The launch event included an opening address by OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría, an address by French Minister of Justice Christiane Taubira, and a panel discussion with experts, including, GE Senior Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel Brackett B. Denniston, U.S. Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell, chair of Transparency International José Carlos Ugaz, and Siemens Chief Compliance Officer Klaus Moosmayer, who is also the chair of the Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) Task Force on Anti-Corruption/Bribery.

Shaun Donnelly, vice president of investment and financial services at USCIB, as well as Kimberley Claman, senior vice president of international government affairs at Citi, represented USCIB at this event. They were joined by Hanni Rosenbaum, senior policy director at BIAC, who leads their anti-bribery effort.

The report provides an analysis of 427 foreign bribery cases that have been concluded since the entry into force of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention in 1999. Key findings include that 53 percent of cases involved corporate management or CEOs, one in three cases were instigated by self-reporting (versus only two percent of cases by whistleblowers), 57 percent of cases involved bribes to obtain public procurement contracts, a staggering 75 percent of cases involved payments through intermediaries, and 69 percent of cases were settled with sanctions.

The various speakers all noted the groundbreaking importance of the report, however also emphasized that understanding the problem is only part of the solution. Addressing this point, the report concludes with Next Steps, including a list of ideas for future work, such as annual updates, a public database, further study of SOEs, or additional study of the demand side of bribery, a point Secretary General Gurria also noted in his comments.

This OECD report presents an important step forward in the OECD’s anti-bribery work surrounding the Convention.

Staff contacts: Shaun Donnelly and Eva Hampl

Staff Contact:   Alice Slayton Clark

Senior VP, Trade, Investment, and Digital Policy
Tel: 202.682.0051

Related Content