Bribery is a modern day scourge on international trade. At a time when so many people are struggling through an economic downturn, bribery is a very real disease threatening our prosperity. It poses a serious challenge to the development of economies and contributes to market failure. It distorts competition, damages free enterprise and blights business. It stifles talent and innovation and kills entrepreneurship. In many cases it is the poorest in society who are hit the hardest

In 2007, South Africa signed up to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention and joined the Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions, a group made up of representatives from all 38 signatory countries which monitors the convention’s implementation and enforcement.

In the global fight against corruption, the OECD has helped forge some of the most important weapons. Now, in a new initiative, it is sitting down with its partners in the worldwide war on corruption to find ways to strengthen their collective armoury.

To create financial reforms that work and to instil a culture of integrity in financial markets, political leaders need to demonstrate a real commitment to transparency and accountability.

What exactly is corruption? How are “offering”, “promising” and “giving” a bribe treated under the law? Different countries have different answers to these questions, by definition as well as interpretation. The courts of some countries, for instance, may consider an oral offer of a bribe not as attempted bribery, unless the briber takes further steps.

The economic ills of the crisis have rightly prompted public reevaluation of government spending habits and revenue collection on both sides of the Atlantic. While congressional super committees and EU delegations hash out plans to foot massive debt bills, a combination of civil society groups, the Occupy movement, and simple common sense have brought long-deserved attention to certain tax loopholes and corporate practices that cost governments billions of dollars. 

The OECD’s CleanGovBiz Initiative helps governments fight corruption, while working with civil society and the private sector to promote integrity.

The crisis should not divert attention from the fight against corruption.
Mark Pieth, Chair of the OECD Working Group on Bribery, talks to Lyndon Thompson about the need to keep the ball rolling.

The OECD has developed new  guidelines to help make lobbying more  transparent and even-handed.

There have been major successes since the OECD’s Anti-Bribery Convention entered into force. But it will take a lot more to clean up unfair business practices.

Could country-by-country tax reporting help boost revenue for development? The answer is not that simple.

The OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, which entered into force 10 years ago this December, was the first global instrument to fight corruption in cross-border business deals. To date, 30 OECD member countries and eight non-member countries-Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Estonia, Israel, Slovenia and South Africa-have adopted the convention.

10 years ago this December the OECD Convention on Combatting Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Deals entered into force. The Anti-Bribery Convention requires that its signatory countries make it a crime to bribe a foreign public official in exchange for obtaining, or retaining, international business. Of the 38 countries around the world that have ratified the convention to date, not one is part of the MENA region.

Governments and state-owned enterprises buy a wide variety of goods and services, from basic computer equipment to the construction of roads. But did you know that such public procurement represents some 10% to15% of GDP across the world?

Governments must put transparency and accountability at the heart of all rescue and reform measures if they are to regain public trust and investor confidence. Here is why.

Charities have become the latest victims of abuse by tax fraudsters and money launderers. Can they be better protected?

The progress on offshore tax centres at the G20 in London in April has fuelled international momentum to develop common principles and standards on integrity, transparency and propriety for a whole range of global challenges, including investment, the environment, labour and health.

The OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials celebrated its 10th anniversary in November 2007**. A decade on, the aim of the Convention–to fight against active corruption (offering bribes)–is as pertinent as ever.

Click to view video

On 19 June 2007 South Africa became the first African country to join the OECD’s Anti-Bribery Convention. The still photo shows South Africa's ambassador to France, Nomasonto Maria Sibanda-Thusi, welcomed by OECD secretary-general, Angel Gurría.

Government contracts generate valuable economic activity, but they are also prone to bribery on a global scale. A new report shows how policymakers might detect bribery in public procurement and suggests ways of defeating it as well.

The 1997 Anti-Bribery Convention was the first global instrument to fight corruption in cross-border business deals. It has since been ratified by all 30 OECD countries and six non-members. National governments and businesses have used the Convention to improve their own legislation and raise standards.

Tax inspectors may be an eagle-eyed lot, but in today’s global, technology-sophisticated world, their job has become extra challenging. The OECD’s 1996 Recommendation on the Tax Deductibility of Bribes to Foreign Public Officials is designed to discourage international corruption by disallowing bribes that take the form of tax-deductible expenses, for instance.