Foreign Bribery Report Issued by OECD

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has released its Foreign Bribery Report, which provides a comprehensive analysis of anti-bribery enforcement actions around the world dating from 1999. The report examines enforcement actions taken by all countries that have enacted criminal anti-corruption statutes that target the bribery of foreign public officials. The OECD's report highlights a number of risk areas and identifies enforcement trends, including some surprising realities about the commercial circumstances surrounding the payment of bribes.

The report tracked 427 cases against 263 individuals and 164 entities. The OECD determined that although anti-bribery enforcement actions climbed steadily after 2005, the actions peaked in 2011 and then dropped off considerably in 2012 and remained steady at this lower level through 2013. Unsurprisingly, the report found the United States to be the most active enforcer of anti-bribery laws, imposing