The Fight against bribery and corruption

Since 1989, the OECD has played a leading role in the battle against international bribery and corruption. The fight gathered momentum in 1999 with the entry into force of the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions. The overall purpose of this instrument is to prevent bribery in international business transactions by requiring countries to establish as a criminal offence the bribing of a foreign public official, and to have in place adequate sanctions and reliable means for detecting and enforcing the offence. This policy brief starts by giving the definition of what bribery is. It then describes how the OECD enforces the Convention and how its implementation is being monitored. It then gives some insights into how the integrity of public officials can be encouraged. It concludes with the role of the private sector and companies in the establishment of anti-corruption strategies. It refers in this respect to the adoption of ethical conduct that include provisions concerning bribery and extortion between the private and the public sectors as well as between private companies.