Published OECD Council Recommendation to Further Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions
03-12-2021
The Recommendation to Further Combat Bribery of Foreign Officials was originally adopted by the OECD Council on 26 November 2009 (the "2009 Anti-Corruption Recommendation"), succeeding the 1997 Revised Council Recommendation on Corruption in International Business Transactions, and sought to enhance the ability of Parties to the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions [OECD/LEGAL/0293] (the "Anti-Corruption Convention") to prevent, detect and investigate allegations of international bribery.
In order to address the challenges, best practices and cross-cutting issues that have emerged in the global anti-corruption landscape since 2009, the OECD Council adopted a Revised Council Recommendation to Further Combat Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in Transactions economic relations on November 26, 2021 (hereinafter the "Anti-Corruption Recommendation 2021") on the proposal of the Working Group on Corruption in International Business Transactions (hereinafter the "Working Group on Corruption").
New sections have been inserted on key topics that have emerged, or have particularly evolved, in the field of the fight against corruption since 2009, specifically:
- fight against demand-side corruption in cases of international corruption;
- sanctions and confiscation;
- non-procedural resolutions;
- international cooperation;
- whistleblower protection;
- incentives for the development and implementation of compliance programs; And
data protection.
In addition, the draft revision of the Recommendation updates or extends the scope of application of provisions on pre-existing topics, including effective enforcement, awareness-raising, training and guidance.