October 13, 2020 - Fewer of the world’s biggest exporters are actively investigating and punishing companies paying bribes abroad, according to a new report released today by Transparency International.
Exporting Corruption 2020: Assessing Enforcement of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention finds that active enforcement against foreign bribery significantly decreased since 2018.
The assessment shows that the UK, alongside the United States, Switzerland and Israel are the only remaining active enforcers of anti-bribery laws.
But a lack of major bribery cases coming to court meant that the UK came very close to joining Italy, France, Germany and others assessed to be only moderate enforcers.
Daniel Bruce, Chief Executive of Transparency International UK, said:
“It is disappointing that so few major exporting countries are actively enforcing laws against foreign bribery, and that this is on the decline. Prosecuting corporate bribery cases is essential to securing a level playing field for law-abiding British businesses approaching new international markets.
“While it is positive to see the UK retain its position amongst the top enforcers of foreign bribery, this assessment reveals that it came within a whisker of being downgraded. Key to avoiding that slide will be ensuring the availability of funding for the Serious Fraud Office to independently pursue even the most contentious of cases.”
Worst offenders
According to the report, the biggest global exporters with the worst track records are China, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, Canada, India and Mexico.
Most countries assessed (34 out of 47), conducted practically no enforcement of their foreign bribery laws.
China, the world’s largest exporter, failed to open a single investigation into foreign bribery between 2016 and 2019, despite Chinese companies appearing in multiple scandals and investigations by other countries.
Improvers and decliners
Only four out of 47 countries, making up 16.5 per cent of all global exports, actively enforced against foreign bribery, compared to seven countries and 27 per cent of global exports in 2018. The UK, United States, Switzerland and Israel maintained their positions as active enforcers.
Germany, which is the third-largest exporter (with 7.6 per cent of global exports) pursued fewer investigations and closed fewer cases against bribery overseas. Similarly, Italy, a top-10 exporter (2.6 per cent), also declined, as did Norway.
Conversely, France and Spain, which account for 3.5 per cent and two per cent of global exports respectively, improved their performance.
Recommendations
Transparency International calls on all countries that are signatories to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, as well as the other major global exporters to do more to enforce against foreign bribery, including:
For a full list of recommendations, read the report.
Notes to editors:
Contact:
Harvey Gavin
harvey.gavin@transparency.org.uk
+44 (0)20 3096 7695
+44 (0)79 6456 0340