Both the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the OECD New Approaches to Economic Challenges explicitly recognise that trade and investment are not goals in themselves, but are a means to an end. That desired end is stronger and more inclusive growth, better jobs for more people, and improved societal well-being.

11 March, Paris, France: This high-level launch event included a panel discussion that addressed the potential impacts of companies operating in agricultural supply chains on human, labour and tenure rights.

Paris, 14 March 2016: Organised by the OECD-hosted Freedom of Investment Round-table, this conference will explore how governments are balancing investor protection and how to improve balance through new institutions.

International trade is a motor of the global economy and represents increasingly large volumes of exchanged goods, services, and financial flows. Yet, corruption in the trade chain hampers economic activity and entails important health and safety risks for societies.The 2016 OECD Integrity Forum will put the spotlight on this hidden tariff.

21 April 2016, Paris: The OECD will host a High-Level Meeting on boosting the impact of anti-corruption reforms in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

A high-level Working Group mission will visit Buenos Aires on 26-27 April 2016 and meet senior Argentine government officials.

10-12 May, Paris: The 2016 forum focused on compliance and implementation of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance, including how to maximise the positive impacts on livelihoods through due diligence; viable options for trade in artisanal and small-scale mined gold; and identifying and preventing the worst forms of child labour in the mineral supply chain.

A high-level Working Group mission will visit Tokyo on 29-30 June 2016 and meet senior Japanese government officials.

Shanghai, 9-10 July 2016: G20 Trade Ministers reinforced their "determination to promote inclusive, robust and sustainable trade and investment growth" with the adoption of the G20 Guiding Principles for Global Investment Policymaking.

The Policy Framework for Investment (PFI) is a non-prescriptive tool for improving investment policy for development. It helps governments to design and implement policy reforms to create a truly attractive, robust and competitive environment for domestic and foreign investment.

Foreign direct investment can play an important role in financing development, with multinational enterprises also providing employment, technology transfer and access to international markets. This chapter from the 2016 Development Co-operation report examines these trends, the main factors shaping them and their implications.

This report covers the activities undertaken to promote the effective implementation of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises by governments and National Contact Points from July 2014 to December 2015.

Countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia have introduced important anti-corruption reforms in recent years. However, corruption in the region remains high. This report identifies progress achieved as well as challenges which require further action by countries.

17 September 2016, Washington DC - This event brought together legal practitioners and experts to focus on how international standards on responsible business conduct are impacting legal practice as well as how legal tools can be used to strengthen ethical business practices throughout global supply chains.

Middle Eastern and North African countries should press ahead with further economic and structural reforms to boost flagging trade and investment, restore public trust and create jobs for the region’s young population, the OECD told ministers from the region today.

Ireland still needs to make substantial progress on key recommendations issued three times since March 2007 by the OECD Working Group on Bribery with regard to improving its domestic criminal law as it applies to bribery by Irish individuals and companies in their international business transactions.

Ukraine has made considerable progress in the area of anti-corruption reform but faces significant challenges to implement some important tools for combating corruption, according to a recent OECD report.

Russia still needs to make substantial progress on key recommendations issued by the OECD Working Group on Bribery in 2012 and 2013.

Mongolia has made significant progress in developing its anti-corruption policy, legislation and institutions over the past few years. However, progress has recently slowed and there are increasing concerns about the future direction and pace of reforms, according to a new OECD report.

Brandon L. Garrett is the Justice Thurgood Marshall Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law and author of Convicting the Innocent (2011) and Too Big to Jail (2014). These comments on corporate criminal liability are a contribution to a public consultation conducted by the OECD Working Group on Bribery.

9 November 2016, Marrakesh - This COP22 side event will focus on the role of policies and domestic enabling conditions to encourage private investment in green infrastructure in developing countries, drawing on lessons learned from country-specific experiences in Jordan and Viet Nam.

This stocktaking report first presents a chronology of how systems for the liability of legal persons have evolved among the 41 Parties to the Anti-Bribery Convention. It then presents a “mapping” of the features of these systems for the 41 Parties.

9 December 2016, Paris: Held on International Anti-Corruption Day, this roundtable provided an opportunity for governments, the private sector, civil society, and the media, to reflect on the liability of legal persons following more than 15 years of work by the OECD Working Group on Bribery to promote its application for foreign bribery.

Following on from the London Anti-Corruption Summit which took place in May 2016, the OECD and the International Bar Association (IBA) have agreed to form a task force to develop professional conduct standards and practice guidance for lawyers involved in establishing and advising on international commercial structures and recommended actions for governments.

19 December 2016, Paris: On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, this roundtable convened a wide range of stakeholders from international organisations, governments, business, civil society, and academia involved in working with the Guidelines.

Paris, 6 March 2016 - The 2017 Global Forum contributed to the broader policy debate about how to address globalisation failures from an international investment perspective. Debates addressed options for reforming the international investment policy regime across three dimensions: openness, responsibility and inclusiveness.

Foreign bribery enforcement in the UK has increased significantly since 2012 notably thanks to the pragmatic and effective approach taken by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to investigate and resolve foreign bribery cases.

Finland has proactively investigated seven allegations of Finnish individuals or companies paying bribes to foreign public officials since 1999 but needs to address its discouragingly high acquittal rate.

Promoting responsible business conduct in the financial sector is vital to building a sustainable global economy. This paper will help institutional investors implement the due diligence recommendations of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises in order to prevent or address adverse impacts related to human and labour rights, the environment, and corruption in their investment portfolios.

The 2017 OECD Global Anti-Corruption and Integrity Forum will tackle issues related to fair competition and economic growth, the inequality gap, a level playing field for business, the public interest in policy making and trust in government and politics

An independent group of leading anti-corruption and integrity experts recommends doing more to enforce and develop anti-corruption standards and enhancing collaboration with other international organisations in a report on ways the OECD can strengthen its vital work in combating bribery and promoting integrity.

Lending volumes and credit conditions for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have gradually improved, according to a new report from the OECD, but demand-side obstacles such as a lack of financial knowledge are contributing to holding back a stronger recovery.

Globalisation has failed to create a level playing field in trade, investment and corporate behaviour, being one of the factors contributing to a backlash against openness in many countries and a decline in confidence in government institutions.

The Czech Republic must strengthen its efforts to detect, investigate and prosecute foreign bribery. Seventeen years after ratifying the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, the Czech Republic has yet to prosecute a case involving the bribery of foreign public officials.

The annual reports on the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises provide an account of the actions the adhering governments have taken over the previous 12 months to enhance the contribution of the guidelines to the improved functioning of the global economy.

Kyiv, 24-27 July 2017: The OECD, within the framework of the OECD Anti-Corruption Project for Ukraine, and in cooperation with Ukraine's Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) and the Council of Europe (CoE), has conducted a four-day training for the first recruits of ARMA.

Effective international co-operation between countries is crucial for the successful investigation, prosecution and sanction of international corruption offences.

This meeting of the Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ACN) will take place at the OECD on 12-14 September 2017.

Evidence on the role played by investment in global value chains (GVCs) can assist policy work on GVCs, trade, investment and development. Drawing on new and improved measures of trade and investment, these country notes provide relevant statistical information from OECD databases on trade, investment, the activities of multinational enterprises and global value chains.

Chile must make further progress on key recommendations of the OECD Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions, more than three years after its Phase 3 evaluation in March 2014.

Sweden has still not implemented reforms to its Penal Code initially recommended by the OECD Working Group on Bribery in June 2012. Sweden’s legal provisions on corporate liability do not meet the requirements of the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions.

Ukraine has achieved remarkable progress on anti-corruption reforms since the 2014 Revolution of Dignity. Despite these major achievements, there is a serious risk of backsliding on reforms, according to a new OECD report.

This web page presents the 10 dimensions of the framework for the governance of public infrastructure. The dimensions relate to how governments prioritise, plan, budget, deliver, regulate and evaluate infrastructure investment. Each area covers the principal objective of policy in each area, followed by key questions decision makers need to address and indicators identifying the enabling factors.

This enforcement data includes the number of criminal, administrative and civil cases of foreign bribery that have resulted in a final disposition, such as a criminal conviction or acquittal, or similar findings under an administrative or civil procedure.

The OECD is developing a general Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct to provide practical support to companies on the implementation of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The Due Diligence Guidance contains plain language explanations of the due diligence recommendations and associated provisions in the OECD Guidelines and can be used by companies in any sector of the economy.

The OECD Working Group on Bribery is leading global efforts to fight bribery of foreign public officials in international trade and investment. The fight against foreign bribery is a core shared value that unites all 43 Parties to the Anti-Bribery Convention. This brochure provides a snapshot of 18 years of implementation and enforcement of the Anti-Bribery Convention.

This study looks at common sources of detection in foreign bribery cases, untapped sources which are under or not utilised in foreign bribery investigations, and ways in which these methods of detection may be enhanced.

Lithuania has taken significant steps to strengthen its legislative framework to combat foreign bribery. Yet further efforts are needed to ensure effective enforcement of anti-bribery laws with regard to corporate liability and imposing sanctions for foreign bribery, including confiscation, according to a new report by the OECD Working Group on Bribery.

The next review of Sweden’s implementation of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, which was scheduled for October 2018, has been delayed until 2019. This is due to the fact that Sweden has not yet enacted legislation to urgently address remaining recommendations to reform its laws on corporate liability for the bribery of foreign public officials.

Australia has stepped up its enforcement of foreign bribery since 2012, when the OECD Working Group on Bribery last evaluated Australia’s implementation of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, with seven convictions in two cases and 19 ongoing investigations.