Canada has proposed significant amendments to the Corruption
of Foreign Public Officials Act (CFPOA). Bill S-14, the
Fighting Foreign Corruption Act, was tabled as a
Government bill in the Senate on February 5, 2013, and is
Canada's latest effort to combat corruption and bribery by
Canadians in foreign markets.
The major proposed amendments are as follows:
Creation of a new "books and records"
offence: It will now be an offence to, among other things,
maintain false accounts, fail to record or to adequately identify
transactions, or to record non-existent expenditures, if the
purpose is bribery or to hide that bribery. Currently, CFPOA makes
it a criminal offence to bribe foreign public officials to obtain
or retain an advantage in the course of international business.
However, proving a bribery offence is notoriously difficult, and
the three convictions to date under CFPOA have all been based on
plea agreements. The proposed amendment effectively lowers the
