Governments and state-owned enterprises buy a wide variety of goods and services, from basic computer equipment to the construction of roads. But did you know that such public procurement represents some 10% to15% of GDP across the world?

Governments must put transparency and accountability at the heart of all rescue and reform measures if they are to regain public trust and investor confidence. Here is why.

Charities have become the latest victims of abuse by tax fraudsters and money launderers. Can they be better protected?

The progress on offshore tax centres at the G20 in London in April has fuelled international momentum to develop common principles and standards on integrity, transparency and propriety for a whole range of global challenges, including investment, the environment, labour and health.

The OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials celebrated its 10th anniversary in November 2007**. A decade on, the aim of the Convention–to fight against active corruption (offering bribes)–is as pertinent as ever.

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On 19 June 2007 South Africa became the first African country to join the OECD’s Anti-Bribery Convention. The still photo shows South Africa's ambassador to France, Nomasonto Maria Sibanda-Thusi, welcomed by OECD secretary-general, Angel Gurría.

Government contracts generate valuable economic activity, but they are also prone to bribery on a global scale. A new report shows how policymakers might detect bribery in public procurement and suggests ways of defeating it as well.

What exactly is corruption? How are “offering”, “promising” and “giving” a bribe treated under the law? Different countries have different answers to these questions, by definition as well as interpretation. The courts of some countries, for instance, may consider an oral offer of a bribe not as attempted bribery, unless the briber takes further steps.

The 1997 Anti-Bribery Convention was the first global instrument to fight corruption in cross-border business deals. It has since been ratified by all 30 OECD countries and six non-members. National governments and businesses have used the Convention to improve their own legislation and raise standards.

Tax inspectors may be an eagle-eyed lot, but in today’s global, technology-sophisticated world, their job has become extra challenging. The OECD’s 1996 Recommendation on the Tax Deductibility of Bribes to Foreign Public Officials is designed to discourage international corruption by disallowing bribes that take the form of tax-deductible expenses, for instance.

The OECD Anti-Bribery Convention is not just about morals and ethics in clean business practices. It is about fair play and levelling the playing field as well.

Terrorism is deadly and criminal, yet, it is a business. Agents are paid, their weapons are purchased, and their plots are financed. Their organisations raise, transfer, invest and spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year, whether investing it or laundering it. Whatever the political or ideological motivations, terrorism requires money.

Extortion, bribery, kickbacks, political handouts – a lot is said about fighting corruption, but how is it being fought? The Annual Report on the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises 2003: Enhancing the Role of Business in the Fight Against Corruption has some answers.

Ukraine is no longer subject to special counter measures imposed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on money laundering and terrorist financing after enacting comprehensive legislation to combat money laundering. But it will remain on the FATF list of non-cooperative countries and territories until it has effectively implemented the new legislation.

“Our competitors are our friends, our customers are the enemy.” Whether or not this sums up the cavalier attitude of cartels to business, they certainly appear to lack the service-oriented, open mentality today’s society expects.

Argentina and the Netherlands have ratified the OECD anti-bribery convention, taking to 30 the total number of countries that at the time of writing have ratified the agreement. The Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions went into effect on 15 February 1999.

Internet casinos are proving an attractive bet for criminals needing to launder their ill-gotten gains because of the difficulties encountered by the authorities in tracking such cyber transactions, the Financial Action Task Force on money laundering (FATF) says.

There is no single international definition of bribery and corruption, just as there is no single area where corruption manifests itself. Still, international trade is an area that is particularly vulnerable to corrupt practices. Not surprisingly, within the detail of WTO agreements are rules which contribute to the fight against corruption by helping to build a domestic regulatory environment where corruption is less likely to occur.

In September 1998, Transparency International (TI) published the most comprehensive index to date on perceptions of corruption in eighty-five countries worldwide. Since its inception in 1995, the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) has encouraged debate and provided the basis for substantive anti-corruption reforms in a number of countries.

The fight against corruption is not the monopoly of the industrialised countries. Nor can recipes that have worked in OECD countries necessarily be applied to developing ones. Of the 134 countries that attended the 9 th International Anti-Corruption Conference organised by Transparency International in Durban last October, over a hundred were developing countries. More and more of these countries are expressing their resolve to combat corruption, echoing international initiatives, such as the OECD Convention.

A key element in an effective anti-corruption campaign is the sharing of information and experience on initiatives taken by countries, international organisations and civil society. With this in mind, the OECD’s Anti-Corruption Unit has launched an extensive information centre on the web that includes regional networks. Participating countries and international organisations continuously supply the regional webs with relevant information on country-specific anti-corruption initiatives, survey results, research reports and other relevant anti-corruption information, including technical assistance programmes.

The fight against bribery is no easy affair. True, an important mile-stone was passed when the OECD Convention outlawing the offer, promise or giving of bribes to foreign public officials entered into force in February 1999. This is all very laudable, but what about its implementation? Certainly, there is no doubting the public show of political will. Of the thirty-four signatories, which are the world’s biggest exporters, twenty or so -- including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland and the United States -- have already amended their laws to accommodate the obligations laid down by the Convention.

In a 1995 study of investment and loan risk data for 52 countries, Alberto Ades and Rafael Di Tella found that an increase of US$4,400 in per capita income would improve a country’s ranking on a corruption index (0 for total corruption, 10 for total integrity) by two points. An increase in exposure to competition would also lead to an improved ranking. Such findings not only show the links between underdevelopment and corruption (see article by Irène Hors), but they underline the extent to which corruption has a strong economic dimension.

Non-OECD countries that wish to join the OECD Convention and the Working Group may apply for accession. As mentioned in the Convention (Art.13) and the related Commentaries, the Convention is open to non-members that become full participants in the OECD Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions in accordance with clearly defined procedures.

Corruption is talked about openly in most countries these days and few countries deny they suffer from it. Which is a good thing, since it provides politicians, business and labour leaders, journalists and civil society with a rare opportunity: that of agreeing on the urgency of stamping it out. But agreeing on what exactly is meant by corruption is another matter. Even the most widely used definition, which is “the abuse of public office for private gain”, may err on the side of over-simplification.