OECD bribery report demands action from leadership

Global Fraud Focus: Examining cross-border issues

Corporate leadership is involved, or at least aware, of the practice of foreign bribery in most cases, rebutting perceptions of bribery as the act of rogue employees." That's from a 2014 foreign bribery report, released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). "Intermediaries, both agents and corporate vehicles, are used in most corrupt transactions while the majority of bribes are paid to obtain public procurement contracts."

The findings in the "OECD Foreign Bribery Report: An Analysis of the Crime of Bribery of Foreign Public Officials," are based on the analysis of 427 bribery cases that have been concluded since the entry of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention in 1999 in the participating 41 state parties. (See page 3.)

The report contains a wealth of statistical information worthy of close analysis. Here I include the most relevant statistics for fraud fighters and focus on conclusions and next steps.

"The prevention of business crime," writes OECD Secretary–General Angel Gurría in the report's preface, "should be at the centre of corporate governance policies, and public procurement needs to be synonymous with integrity, transparency and accountability."