OECD Working Group on Bribery Update

Last week the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development made a statement calling on businesses to step up their efforts in the fight against bribery. There have been new guidelines established regarding ethics, compliance and internal controls, in order to assist member countries in developing anti-bribery strategies.

From this month forward, the OECD Working Group on Bribery will track the progress of each country in encouraging their companies to implement the Good Practice Guidance on Internal Controls, Ethics and Compliance.

The OECD has added some additions to the guidelines that were established in November. As published in the article on the OECD website, the Good Practice Guidance calls on businesses to:

• “Adopt a clear and visible anti-bribery policy that is strongly supported by senior management.
• Instill a sense of responsibility for compliance with the policy at all levels of the company, as well as independent compliance structures.
• Keep up regular communication and training on foreign bribery for all employees, as well as with business partners.
• Encourage observance of anti-bribery compliance measures, and disciplinary procedures to address their violations.
• Also, that business organizations play a leading role in providing information, advice and training to companies, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises, on how to protect themselves against the risk of foreign bribery.”