Anti-corruption

Fighting corruption 

Corruption is an obstacle to the integrity in business transactions which undermines fair competition, distorts resource allocation, destroys public trust and undermines the rule of law.  The risk of corruption faced by businesses varies according to their size, international exposure, as well as the nature, scale and diversity of their activities.   

Fighting corruption is at the core of corporate responsibility and good corporate governance, which companies are increasingly integrating part of their overall policy to manage activities.  However, small-medium enterprises remain vulnerable and often lacking in resources to fully comply with anti-corruption requirements. 

ICC has always been at the forefront of advocating for the critical role of compliance by enterprises with self-imposed rules, while recognizing the basic responsibility of international organizations and national governments in the fight against all corrupt practices, including extortion, solicitation and bribery.  ICC was the first business organization to issue anti-corruption rules in 1977 with its Rules of Conduct to Combat Extortion and Bribery. Its subsequent updates reflect the adoption of key international legal instruments by international organizations such as the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials (1997) of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the United Nations Convention on Corruption (2003), which are major milestones in the fight against corruption. 

The range ICC’s anti-corruption tools, focused on private sector anti-corruption training and self-regulation, concretely responds to global goals and efforts to translate aspiration to accelerated action to eliminate corruption.