Foreign Anti-Corruption Laws In The NAFTA Region

Originally published in the North American Free Trade & Investment Report, Vol. 22, No. 2&3, January 31 & February 15, 2012.

As a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ("OECD"), Canada signed the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions (the "OECD Convention") on December 17, 1997. In order to satisfy its obligations under the OECD convention, the Government of Canada implemented the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act¹ ("CFPOA"), which came into force on February 14, 1999.

Although the CFPOA may not be as broad as its counterpart in the United States, it is considered more effective than its equivalent legislation in Mexico. A discussion of the CFPOA, in comparison to anti-bribery legislation in these other countries, will appear in the next installment.