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Bribery & Corruption

Over 40 years of articles and reference material

A page dedicated to global, regional, UK and US anti-money laundering developments and initiatives.

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Australia’s National Anti-Corruption Commission reports its twelfth conviction after a company manager attempted to bribe a Commonwealth official with $20,000 hidden in a bag of tea

September 3, 2026

The conviction resulted from a joint investigation by the NACC, Australian Federal Police and Queensland Police into an attempt to accelerate approval of a product under a Commonwealth rebate scheme. The Commission’s September operational update also shows 33 corruption investigations and 18 preliminary investigations underway, alongside 11 joint investigations and four matters before the courts.

TI’s 2026 regional assessment finds major political finance gaps across 17 Asian countries, with 11 failing to fully disclose financial information and weak controls allowing illicit money into politics

September 3, 2026

Transparency International has assessed political finance systems across 17 countries in South, Southeast and East Asia, identifying areas where weaknesses in the regulation and oversight of political funding create opportunities for corruption and undue influence. The assessment considers six areas of integrity – transparency, clean money, a level playing field, gender equality, state neutrality and accountability…

SFO concludes its long-running civil litigation with ENRC, Dechert and David Gerrard through a confidential out-of-court settlement

September 2, 2026

The proceedings followed the SFO’s 2013–2023 investigation into suspected bribery and corruption associated with ENRC’s mining interests in the Democratic Republic of Congo and elsewhere, which closed without charges due to insufficient admissible evidence. The SFO says it has since overhauled its governance, independent oversight and safeguards following judicial findings concerning its conduct in the period preceding the investigation.

Ashurst Perkins Coie updates its UK bribery guide, highlighting corporate exposure for overseas conduct and third-party relationships, including agents, suppliers and joint ventures, alongside risks around hospitality, facilitation payments and self-reporting

September 2, 2026

Ashurst Perkins Coie has published an updated guide to the UK Bribery Act, covering the principal bribery offences, corporate liability and the Act’s extraterritorial reach. The guide examines how the failure-to-prevent offence can create liability for bribery committed by associated persons, including employees, agents, suppliers and joint ventures, and considers practical risk areas such as corporate hospitality, facilitation payments and overseas business arrangements. It also addresses enforcement and self-reporting, noting that companies seeking favourable treatment from the SFO need to demonstrate genuine cooperation and effective anti-bribery procedures.

UK Department for Transport launches a three-year strategy to strengthen the prevention, detection and response to fraud, bribery and corruption across the department

September 1, 2026

The 2026–29 strategy sets out how the Department for Transport intends to strengthen counter-fraud capability and embed fraud, bribery and corruption risk management across its operations. It establishes departmental priorities for prevention, detection and enforcement while aligning its approach with wider government counter-fraud standards.

GI-TOC finds Cambodia’s cyber-scam industry spreading from casino areas to rural communities and becoming part of local economies despite government crackdowns

August 31, 2026

Research by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime finds Cambodia’s cyber-scam industry has expanded beyond casino developments and border towns into secondary cities, villages and remote areas, reshaping local labour markets, land use and economic activity. Fieldwork across eight locations found that, despite government crackdowns in 2025 and the departure or deportation of tens of thousands of scam…

GRECO’s 4th Compliance report flags Austria’s anti-corruption measures as “globally unsatisfactory”, with only 6 of 19 rec. addressed and gaps in parliamentary integrity, lobbying and oversight

August 27, 2026

The recommendations address areas including conflicts of interest and codes of conduct for parliamentarians, transparency in the legislative process, asset and interest declarations, and safeguards around the appointment and career progression of judges and prosecutors. Austria has made further progress, but recommendations remain outstanding and GRECO has requested another update on their implementation by 30 June 2027…

Basel Institute’s Policy brief warns that tighter border controls can create new corruption risks, as smugglers adapt through new concealment methods, routes and corrupt networks

August 25, 2026

The Basel Institute on Governance has published a policy brief examining how corruption and organised crime adapt to changes in border controls, drawing on research at the port of Rotterdam and the Kapitan Andreevo crossing between Bulgaria and Türkiye. The research finds that stronger controls, new technology and tighter regulation do not necessarily suppress illicit activity, as criminal networks respond by adapting their concealment strategies…

GRECO’s Evaluation finds UK’s local Govt anti-corruption framework strong, but calls for 6 reforms to tighten sanctions, lobbying and gifts transparency, audit oversight, integrity advice and training

August 20, 2026

GRECO identifies six areas requiring further action: stronger and clearer sanctions for councillor misconduct; making the new local audit office fully operational; improving lobbying transparency; providing confidential integrity advice to employees; strengthening integrity training for councillors; and legally formalising the publication of councillors’ gifts…

CoLP Domestic Corruption Unit makes four further arrests in an investigation into suspected fraud and bribery involving the Police Federation of England and Wales

August 18, 2026

Domestic Corruption Unit officers arrested two men and two women at an address in Leatherhead on 18 August, including two serving police officers. The arrests follow three earlier arrests in March and form part of what the force describes as a significant and complex investigation into allegations of fraud and bribery; no findings of wrongdoing have yet been made…

Spotlight on Corruption Briefing urges the FCDO to use its December 2026 Illicit Finance Summit to drive global action on dirty money, corruption, asset recovery and climate policy

August 18, 2026

The briefing highlights that illicit finance drains resources from developing countries, with an estimated $89 billion leaving Africa through illicit capital flight each year, while more than £100 billion is estimated to be laundered through the UK annually. Dirty money also contributes to environmental crime, with environmental criminals generating up to $281 billion in illicit profits annually…

TI’s 2026 report, Monitoring Political Finance, highlights how weak political-finance oversight can fuel corruption, undue influence, conflicts of interest and misuse of state resources, particularly during elections

August 18, 2026

The new compendium examines seven citizen-led approaches to monitoring political finance and disclosure, highlighting how weak oversight can enable corruption, undue influence, misuse of state resources and foreign interference. The publication draws together practical case studies from different jurisdictions and identifies common lessons for strengthening scrutiny of political funding both during and outside election periods…

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