The governments of Japan, Italy and Switzerland have been criticised by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for not doing enough to fight bribery of foreign officials. All three countries are signatories to the OECD's Convention of Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials but individual reports on each country show that they need to do more to implement the Convention.
In Japan, only two prosecutions have been completed since bribing foreign officials became a criminal offence in 1999. Similarly in Switzerland, which introduced the offence in 2000, only two convictions for foreign bribery have been secured. Switzerland is considered by the OECD to be particularly exposed to the risks of bribery due to its important financial sector and the large number of multinational enterprises located there. The OECD recommended that Italy extend its statute of limitations to allow more time for prosecution and sanctions in foreign bribery cases, identifying this as the primary cause of the limited results of the country's enforcement efforts.
To view the reports please click on the following links: Japan, Switzerland and Italy.
