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This paper was published as a Faculty Working Paper (no. 189) for the Lubin School of Business, Center for Applied Research, October 1999.

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Article

Abstract

For more than two decades, the United States has been acting virtually alone in combating international bribery of government officials by agents of domestic corporations. Twenty years after the enactment of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in 1977 (the "Act"), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (the "OECD"), under pressure from the U.S. and other sources, adopted a Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions (the "OECD Convention"). In Latin America, the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption (the "IA Convention") was adopted and opened for signature on March 29, 1996, in Caracas, Venezuela. In addition, there are also other efforts to combat international bribery. This paper will review: (1) the major elements of U.S. law concerning bribery for foreign public officials; (2) the provisions of the OECD Convention and the IA Convention; and (3) other efforts underway to counteract the climate of dishonesty inherent in the international marketplace.

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