Odious Debts Online
December 12, 2007

Angel Gurria, the head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), says governments need to do much more in the fight against international corruption. Speaking at a conference in Rome last month to mark the 10th anniversary of the OECD’s Anti-Bribery Convention, created to outlaw international bribery, Mr. Gurria expressed concern that “some countries are still holding back on implementing the Convention” and “have almost no investigations,” and “have brought no cases to court.”

“Now I do not want to spoil the birthday party, but I do have to say that what we have achieved is still not good enough,” he said. “There will be big risks that countries will go back to doing ‘business as usual,’ including corruption. The only way to prevent this is to ensure that everyone plays by the same rules.”