OF THE COUNCIL ON COMBATING BRIBERY
IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS
(23.V.1997)
The council,
Having regard to Articles 3, 5 a) and 5 b) of the Convention on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development of 14 December 1960;
Considering that bribery is a widespread phenomenon in international business transactions, including trade and investment, raising serious moral and political concerns and distorting international competitive conditions;
Considering that all countries share a responsibility to combat bribery in international business transactions;
Considering that enterprises should refrain from bribery of public servants and holders of public office, as stated in the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises;
Considering the progress which has been made in the implementation of the initial Recommendation of the Council on Bribery in International Business Transactions adopted on 27 May 1994, C(94)75/FINAL and the related Recommendation on the tax deductibility of bribes of foreign public officials adopted on 11 April 1996, C(96)27/FINAL; as well as the Recommendation concerning Anti-corruption Proposals for Bilateral Aid Procurement, endorsed by the High Level Meeting of the Development Assistance Committee on 7 May 1996;
Welcoming other recent developments which further advance international understanding and co-operation regarding bribery in business transactions, including actions of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the European Union and the Organisation of American States;
Having regard to the commitment made at the meeting of the Council at Ministerial level in May 1996, to criminalise the bribery of foreign public officials in an effective and co-ordinated manner;
Noting that an international convention in conformity with the agreed common elements set forth in the Annex, is an appropriate instrument to attain such criminalisation rapidly.
Considering the consensus which has developed on the measures which should be taken to implement the 1994 Recommendation, in particular, with respect to the modalities and international instruments to facilitate criminalisation of bribery of foreign public officials; tax deductibility of bribes to foreign public officials; accounting requirements, external audit and internal company controls; and rules and regulations on public procurement;
Recognising that achieving progress in this field requires not only efforts by individual countries but multilateral co-operation, monitoring and follow-up.
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General
I. Recommends that Member countries take effective measures to deter, prevent and combat the bribery of foreign public officials in connection with international business transactions.
II. Recommends that each Member country examine the following areas and, in conformity with its jurisdictional and other basic legal principles, take concrete and meaningful steps to meet this goal:
i) criminal laws and their application, in accordance with section III and the Annex to this Recommendation;
ii) tax legislation, regulations and practice, to eliminate any indirect support of bribery, in accordance with section IV;
iii) company and business accounting, external audit and internal control requirements and practices, in accordance with section V;
iv) banking, financial and other relevant provisions, to ensure that adequate records would be kept and made available for inspection and investigation;
v) public subsidies, licences, government procurement contracts or other public advantages, so that advantages could be denied as a sanction for bribery in appropriate cases, and in accordance with section VI for procurement contracts and aid procurement;
vi) civil, commercial, and administrative laws and regulations, so that such bribery would be illegal;
vii) international co-operation in investigations and other legal proceedings, in accordance with section VII.
Criminalisation of Bribery of Foreign Public Officials
III. Recommends that Member countries should criminalise the bribery of foreign public officials in an effective and co-ordinated manner by submitting proposals to their legislative bodies by 1 April 1998, in conformity with the agreed common elements set forth in the Annex, and seeking their enactment by the end of 1998.
Decides, to this end, to open negotiations promptly on an international convention to criminalise bribery in conformity with the agreed common elements, the treaty to be open for signature by the end of 1997, with a view to its entry into force twelve months thereafter.
Tax Deductibility
IV. Urges the prompt implementation by Member countries of the 1996 Recommendation which reads as follows: "that those Member countries which do not disallow the deductibility of bribes to foreign public officials re-examine such treatment with the intention of denying this deductibility. Such action may be facilitated by the trend to treat bribes to foreign officials as illegal".
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Accounting Requirements, External Audit
and Internal Company Controls
V. Recommends that Member countries take the steps necessary so that laws, rules and practices with respect to accounting requirements, external audit and internal company controls are in line with the following principles and are fully used in order to prevent and detect bribery of foreign public officials in international business.
A. Adequate accounting requirements
i) Member countries should require companies to maintain adequate records of the sums of money received and expended by the company, identifying the matters in respect of which the receipt and expenditure takes place. Companies should be prohibited from making off-the-books transactions or keeping off-the-books accounts.
ii) Member countries should require companies to disclose in their financial statements the full range of material contingent liabilities.
iii) Member countries should adequately sanction accounting omissions, falsifications and fraud.
B. Independent External Audit
i) Member countries should consider whether requirements to submit to external audit are adequate.
ii) Member countries and professional associations should maintain adequate standards to ensure the independence of external auditors which permits them to provide an objective assessment of company accounts, financial statements and internal controls.
iii) Member countries should require the auditor who discovers indications of a possible illegal act of bribery to report this discovery to management and, as appropriate, to corporate monitoring bodies.
iv) Member countries should consider requiring the auditor to report indications of a possible illegal act of bribery to competent authorities.
C. Internal company controls
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i) Member countries should encourage the development and adoption of adequate internal company controls, including standards of conduct.
ii) Member countries should encourage company management to make statements in their annual reports about their internal control mechanisms, including those which contribute to preventing bribery.
iii) Member countries should encourage the creation of monitoring bodies, independent of management, such as audit committees of boards of directors or of supervisory boards.
iv) Member countries should encourage companies to provide channels for communication by, and protection for, persons not willing to violate professional standards or ethics under instructions or pressure from hierarchical superiors.
Public procurement
VI. Recommends:
i) Member countries should support the efforts in the World Trade Organisation to pursue an agreement on transparency in government procurement;
ii) Member countries' laws and regulations should permit authorities to suspend from competition for public contracts enterprises determined to have bribed foreign public officials in contravention of that Member's national laws and, to the extent a Member applies procurement sanctions to enterprises that are determined to have bribed domestic public officials, such sanctions should be applied equally in case of bribery of foreign public officials. <1>
iii) In accordance with the Recommendation of the Development Assistance Committee, Member countries should require anti-corruption provisions in bilateral aid-funded procurement, promote the proper implementation of anti-corruption provisions in international development institutions, and work closely with development partners to combat corruption in all development co-operation efforts. <2>
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<1> Member countries' systems for applying sanctions for bribery of domestic officials differ as to whether the determination of bribery is based on a criminal conviction, indictment or administrative procedure, but in all cases it is based on substantial evidence.
<2> This paragraph summarises the DAC recommendation, which is addressed to DAC members only, and addresses it to all OECD Members and eventually non-member countries which adhere to the Recommendation.
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International Co-operation
VII. Recommends that Member countries, in order to combat bribery in international business transactions, in conformity with their jurisdictional and other basic legal principles, take the following actions:
i) consult and otherwise co-operate with appropriate authorities in other countries in investigations and other legal proceedings concerning specific cases of such bribery through such means as sharing of information (spontaneously or upon request), provision of evidence and extradition;
ii) make full use of existing agreements and arrangements for mutual international legal assistance and where necessary, enter into new agreements or arrangements for this purpose;
iii) ensure that their national laws afford an adequate basis for this co-operation and, in particular, in accordance with paragraph 8 of the Annex.
Follow-up and institutional arrangements
VIII. Instructs the Committee on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises, through its Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions, to carry out a programme of systematic follow-up to monitor and promote the full implementation of this Recommendation, in co-operation with the Committee for Fiscal Affairs, the Development Assistance Committee and other OECD bodies, as appropriate. This follow-up will include, in particular:
i) receipt of notifications and other information submitted to it by the Member countries;
ii) regular reviews of steps taken by Member countries to implement the Recommendation and to make proposals, as appropriate, to assist Member countries in its implementation; these reviews will be based on the following complementary systems:
- a system of self-evaluation, where Member countries' responses on the basis of a questionnaire will provide a basis or assessing the implementation of the Recommendation;
- a system of mutual evaluation, where each Member country will be examined in turn by the Working Group on Bribery, on the basis of a report which will provide an objective assessment of the progress of the Member country in implementing the Recommendation.
iii) examination of specific issues relating to bribery in international business transactions;
iv) examination of the feasibility of broadening the scope of the work of the OECD to combat international bribery to include private sector bribery and bribery of foreign officials for reasons other than to obtain or retain business;
v) provision of regular information to the public on its work and activities and on implementation of the Recommendation.
IX. Notes the obligation of Member countries to co-operate closely in this follow-up programme, pursuant to Article 3 of the OECD Convention.
X. Instructs the Committee on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises to review the implementation of Sections III and, in co-operation with the Committee on Fiscal Affairs, Section IV of this Recommendation and report to Ministers in Spring 1998, to report to the Council after the first regular review and as appropriate there after, and to review this Revised Recommendation within three years after its adoption.
Co-operation with non members
XI. Appeals to non-member countries to adhere to the Recommendation and participate in any institutional follow-up or implementation mechanism.
XII. Instructs the Committee on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises through its Working Group on Bribery, to provide a forum for consultations with countries which have not yet adhered, in order to promote wider participation in the Recommendation and its follow-up.
Relations with international governmental
and non-governmental organisations
XIII. Invites the Committee on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises through its Working Group on Bribery, to consult and co-operate with the international organisations and international financial institutions active in the combat against bribery in international business transactions and consult regularly with the non-governmental organisations and representatives of the business community active in this field.
Annex
AGREED COMMON ELEMENTS
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