Commenting on today’s Government publication of a new Bribery Bill, Chandrashekhar Krishnan, Executive Director of TI (UK) said:

25 March 2009 - "We welcome the Government’s publication of a new Bribery Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny. It is an important if long overdue, step towards making the UK compliant with the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention and raising the UK’s game in tackling foreign bribery.

“We do not believe there should be any real parliamentary opposition to the swift passage of this Bill. So the Government has no excuse not to advance it for enactment this Summer. There can be no excuse for deferring action until the 5th parliamentary session.

"Next week's G20 meeting brings to London many OECD members who have been most embarrassed by the UK's failure to implement the Anti-Bribery Convention. What better way to convince them of the UK's commitment to meaningful international cooperation than to promise the earliest enactment of the Bribery Bill?"