ABSTRACT
Launched in 1999, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions is a landmark agreement, defining key terms and developing a legal framework for addressing bribery. To understand the objectives of the Convention, it is necessary to review the role of the OECD. The Convention has been ratified by all 30 members of the OECD and by a growing number of non-members as well. The Convention applies to bribery of foreign government officials anywhere, regardless of where the incident takes place. The Convention includes monitoring provisions, based on a peer review system common within the OECD framework. The OECD Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions reviews the implementing legislation of all the countries that have ratified the Convention. The Convention covers only the bribery of foreign officials and not private-to-private corruption.
