Reveals worldwide increase in bribery investigations and continued pursuit of U.S. enforcement actions
Annapolis, MD (March 5, 2019) – TRACE, the world’s leading anti-bribery standard setting organization, today announced the findings of its 2018 Global Enforcement Report (GER), noting an increase in the number of U.S. enforcement actions and a worldwide expansion of anti-bribery investigations. In the GER, an enforcement action includes resolutions of bribery allegations involving fines or penalties, a guilty plea, a sentencing, or a settlement of charges. The 2018 GER, TRACE’s ninth annual compilation, provides anti-bribery enforcement data from 2018 and summarizes 42 years of anti-bribery enforcement activity.
In 2018, the U.S. undertook a total of 25 enforcement actions—a notable increase over the 16 in the previous year, though falling short of the U.S.’s record-setting 31 enforcement actions in 2016. This number includes two matters resolved through “declination-with-disgorgement,” a resolution made possible for self-reporting companies by recent government policy and perceived as a “soft option” for corporations. Overall, from 1977–2018, the U.S. has carried out a total of 263 enforcement actions, or about 67 percent of all enforcement actions worldwide.
The…
