Federal government proposes three key amendments to the
Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act
This week, the Federal Government tabled Bill S-14 in the Senate
to amend the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act
("CFPOA" or the "Act"). The Act has been on the
books since 1998, but has escaped a serious re-working before now.
In summary, CFPOA criminalizes, and makes prosecutable in Canada,
the bribery of foreign public officials to obtain a commercial
gain. Despite formation of an RCMP task force to investigate such
corruption and news that the task force is investigating a number
of suspected cases of bribery, the Act has been the source of a
small number of high profile prosecutions since its inception. Bill
S-14 might suggest a renewed vigour on the part of the Federal
Government to take action against Canadian agents of foreign
corruption.
