Combating the "supply side" of bribery

The keystone of the OECD’s anti-corruption efforts is the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions. This unique international instrument addresses “active bribery” – the individuals or companies who promise, offer or give bribes in order to gain or retain business advantages.

All 30 OECD countries plus seven non-member economies have signed onto the Anti-Bribery Convention, pledging to make bribery of foreign public officials in international business a crime. They agree to implement a comprehensive set of legal, regulatory and policy measures to prevent, detect, prosecute and sanction these offences. Parties are also required to work together to ensure effective application of the Convention. They monitor implementation of the Convention through an ongoing peer review process.

Since its entry into force 10 years ago, the State Parties to the Convention have sanctioned more than 150 individuals and companies for committing foreign bribery and related offences and approximately 250 allegations of foreign bribery and related offences are currently under investigation.