A Big Month For Anti-Corruption Enforcement

Morrison & Foerster attorneys look at anti-corruption enforcement in what traditionally is a big month for it, December, as the Department of Justice and the SEC try to close out Foreign Corrupt Practice Act cases. “Not to be outdone, enforcement agencies around the world also announced major cases and developments,” the authors write. Also included with this case-by-case summary are results of two revealing reports. Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 2014 finds an increase in perceived corruption in China, Turkey and Angola. The highest score (country perceived as least corrupt) was Denmark. And, in a global analysis of crime and bribery by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the findings include that almost two thirds of cases occur in four sectors: mining; construction; transportation and storage; and information and communications. The OECD report also finds that the most common type of bribery involved payments to win public procurement contracts. Next, but far down the list, were “clearance of customs” and “attempts to gain preferential tax treatment.”