Israel joins OECD Anti-Bribery Convention

Israel’s accession to the Convention represents an important commitment to the international fight against corruption
 
Israel became in recent days the 38th signatory to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions.
 
The OECD Anti-Bribery Convention establishes legally binding standards to criminalize bribery of foreign public officials in international business transactions and provides for a host of related measures that make this effective. 
 
This Convention outlaws bribery of foreign public officials in international business transactions; it is the only multi-lateral instrument of its kind, and has been in force for more than 10 years. Israel’s accession to the Convention represents an important commitment to the international fight against corruption.
 
In preparation for joining the convention, Israel amended the Criminal Code to include a new crime - bribing a foreign public official - which carriesa maximum penalty of three and a half years in prison and fine of up to NIS 202,000, or up to four times the value of the benefit received for the bribe, whichever is higher.
 
In the case of a company, it will be possible to convictboth the company and the company officers involved in the bribery. An OECD delegation is due to visit Israel On June 26th in order to examine the implementation of the convention's principles.