The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) working group on bribery has published a special review of the UK's record in fighting foreign bribery and it's not pretty.

Without saying as much, the review basically condemns Britain for falling behind in the fight against bribery. Britain has ignored previous calls to strengthen its stance on bribery, suggesting that the UK Government is actually colluding with wrongdoing.

The report notes: "The Working Group is disappointed and seriously concerned with the unsatisfactory implementation of the Convention by the UK. The continued failure of the UK to address deficiencies in its laws on bribery of foreign public officials and on corporate liability for foreign bribery has hindered investigations. The Working Group reiterates its previous 2003, 2005 and 2007 recommendations that the UK enact new foreign bribery legislation at the earliest possible date. The Group also strongly regrets the uncertainty about the UK's commitment to establish an effective corporate liability regime in accordance with the Convention, as recommended in 2005, and urges the UK to adopt appropriate legislation as a matter of high priority."


There are several reasons why Britain is lagging behind. There have only been two cases there since the OECD convention came into force. Compare that with the 103 cases in the US. Secondly, Britain does not actually have anti-corruption legislation. And that's despite the OECD convention being in place for over a decade.

The UK Government fails to understand that this is actually damaging the reputation of British companies. And in this climate, that's very dangerous.