Corruption - The fight against money laundering

Corruption affects every country, whether developed or not. It is an impediment to sustainable economic development and an obstacle to good governance and the rule of law when it affects areas such as police, justice, and prison administration. It also promotes the development of criminal and/or terrorist activities in some vulnerable countries.

The poorest populations are the first affected by its consequences. According to a study by the World Bank, every year bribes amount to $1000 billion, representing 9% of world trade.

The United Nations Convention against Corruption, referred to as the Merida Convention, the first universal legal instrument intended to prevent and combat this phenomenon, came into force in 2005. At the Gleneagles summit in July 2005, France was the 29th country, and the only G8 country, to ratify it. Two years later, 93 other states had acceded to the Convention, including the United Kingdom, Russia, the United States, and China. It now has 140 member states.

The States party to this instrument must criminalize and penalize active corruption of national, international, and foreign public officials, (criminalizing passive corruption of foreign public officials is optional). The convention also organizes the return of stolen or money laundered assets and extradition for persons convicted of corruption. At the third Conference of the Member States held in Doha (Qatar) from November 9th to 13th, 2009, the States adopted a monitoring mechanism for reviewing the Convention’s implementation in member countries.

The OECD’s Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions has been adopted by the organization’s 30 members, joined by eight other countries (South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Estonia, Israel, and Slovenia). It came into force, in France, on September 29th, 2000. The Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business covers a significantly narrower field than that covered by the UN convention. It has a mechanism for peer review ensuring equivalent implementation by all Member States. As part of this exercise, France was the subject of a very positive evaluation in March 2006.

There are other regional conventions: the primary ones are the Council of Europe’s Conventions (whose implementation is provided by an independent body, GRECO) and the OECD’s whose criteria have the highest requirements.

In addition, with regards to the international fight against corruption, development banks are also implementing strategies to prevent corruption in their services. At the national level, in 2006, France adopted an interministerial strategy regarding combating corruption, aimed among others at being a guide for its international cooperation policy.

Last update: September 6, 2010