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Echoing Past Evaluations, OECD Cites Three Nations for Poor Anti-Bribery Controls
By Brian Monroe
printAn intergovernmental group Tuesday criticized Austria, Spain and the Netherlands for failing to sufficiently investigate and convict individuals and corporations that bribe foreign officials. In three separate evaluations, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) urged the three nations to more frequently hold entities accountable and levy larger monetary penalties against those that violate the law. None of the nations have ever convicted individuals or companies for related violations despite having laws prohibiting foreign bribery. The reviews echo 2012 evaluations of Australia, France, Hungary, Sweden and the Slovak Republic that found the nations too lax with investigation into, and...
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To Comply With Anti-Bribery Law, Banks Must Be Careful with Payments for Licenses, Sovereign Clients
As prosecutors continue to accuse companies and individuals of foreign bribery, banks should be cautious about how they acquire licenses and sovereign wealth accounts, and where their clients send money abroad, say consultants.
Many large British companies are putting the final touches on their compliance efforts ahead of a Friday enforcement deadline of the country's broad, new anti-bribery law, say U.K. consultants.
Financial institutions operating in the U.K. could be among the first companies fined under a new British anti-bribery law, according to speakers at an anti-money laundering conference in Amsterdam Monday.
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The United Kingdom's law enforcement arm said Wednesday that it would not pursue convictions under a new anti-bribery law against companies and individuals with a limited presence in the country.
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Senate panel members Tuesday criticized the U.S. Justice Department's enforcement of a U.S. anti-bribery law even as representatives from the commercial sector asked Congress to better shield it from penalties.
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The departure Friday of the Justice Department's top enforcer of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act will mark an end to an era, not a slowdown in penalties against violators, say analysts.
The rise in U.S. prosecutions of companies that bribe foreign officials won't likely plateau for another four or five years, when European countries are expected to further clamp down on the crime, according to the former assistant chief for the Fraud Section of the Justice Department.
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