The ''Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act'' (CFPOA, french: Loi sur la corruption d’agents publics étrangers) (the ''Act'') is an
anti-corruption
Anti-corruption (or anticorruption) comprises activities that oppose or inhibit corruption. Just as corruption takes many forms, anti-corruption efforts vary in scope and in strategy. A general distinction between preventive and reactive measu ...
law in force in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...
. It was passed in 1999, ratifying the
and is often referred to as the
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
equivalent to the United States' ''
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) (, ''et seq.'') is a United States federal law that prohibits U.S. citizens and entities from bribing foreign government officials to benefit their business interests.
The FCPA is applicable wor ...
'' (FCPA).
Jurisdiction
Under section 5 subsection 1 of the CFPOA, every person who contravenes the Act (sections 3 and 4) outside Canada that is a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident, or "a public body, corporation, society, company, firm or partnership that is incorporated, formed or otherwise organized under the laws of Canada or a province,"
is deemed to have committed the offence in Canada.
Thereby giving the Act jurisdictional powers over persons or entities committing bribery within Canada or Canadian bodies abroad. It also outlines in subsection 2 the jurisdiction to proceed with trials and punishment "in any territorial division in Canada."
Provisions
The Act states that: "Every person commits an offence who, in order to obtain or retain an advantage in the course of business, directly or indirectly gives, offers or agrees to give or offer a loan, reward, advantage or benefit of any kind to a foreign public official or to any person for the benefit of a foreign public official as consideration for an act or omission by the official in connection with the performance of the official's duties or functions" or "to induce the official to use his or her position to influence any acts or decisions of the foreign state or public international organization for which the official performs duties or functions."
In Canada "CFPOA 36 criminalizes the corruption of foreign public officials", and the "Criminal Code criminalizes the corruption of domestic public officials".
Amendments
On June 19, 2013, an amendment to CFPOA, Bill S-14, was passed to strengthen the Act against corruption and bribery. This included a notification that the existing exclusion of
facilitation payments in the Act, would be eliminated at a future date. facilitation payments or "grease payments", are "made to expedite or secure the performance by a foreign public official". Since October 31, 2017, facilitation payments are no longer excluded.
In 2009, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recommended that member nations discourage the use of facilitating payments by businesses. This amendment aligned Canada further with other OECD countries.
International Anti-Corruption Unit
The
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...
(RCMP) has "the exclusive authority to lay charges under the CFPOA."
In 2008, the RCMP established the International Anti-Corruption Unit was established in 2008 with two teams of seven−one based in Calgary and the other in Ottawa.
[Fourteenth Annual Report to Parliament](_blank)
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Background
Canada has a history of not responding forcefully to combat international bribery of foreign public officials. In its March 2011 report, the OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate ...
Working Group on Bribery said that the CFPOA was limited in its jurisdiction, had an insufficient numbers of investigators, and applied weak penalties in the event of a conviction. According to the report since the implementation CFPOA in 1999 until 2011, there had been only case that led to a conviction under CFPOA—the 2005 Hydro Kleen case. It involved an private lawsuit against the Alberta-based company, Hydro Kleen, which resulted in the company pleading guilty to bribing a US immigration official. The investigation was not regarded as a particularly complex one that required minimal investigation of one State employee based in North America. The fine of CAD 25,000 levied on the company after it had admitted to paying CAD 28,299 in bribes was hardly punitive.
In May 2011, the NGO Transparency International
Transparency International e.V. (TI) is a German registered association founded in 1993 by former employees of the World Bank. Based in Berlin, its nonprofit and non-governmental purpose is to take action to combat global corruption with civil ...
suggested that Canada was a long way behind other developed countries
A developed country (or industrialized country, high-income country, more economically developed country (MEDC), advanced country) is a sovereign state that has a high quality of life, developed economy and advanced technological infrastr ...
, identifying it as one of 21 states undertaking "little or no enforcement" of their anti-bribery legislation". It reported that "Canada is the only G7 country in the little or no enforcement category, and has been in this category since the first edition of this report in 2005".
According to the compliance
Compliance can mean:
Healthcare
* Compliance (medicine), a patient's (or doctor's) adherence to a recommended course of treatment
* Compliance (physiology), the tendency of a hollow organ to resist recoil toward its original dimensions (this is a ...
consultancy
A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization.
Consulting servic ...
Billiter Partners, by March 2011, Canadian authorities had never charged a "well-known Canadian firm for bribery" under CFPOA, unlike its counterpart in the United States, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
The first major CFPOA prosecution involved Niko Resources
Niko Resources is an India- and South East Asia-focused oil and gas exploration and production company that shares ownership of many exploration and development properties with Komodo Energy and Reliance Industries. Though it holds exploration righ ...
, a Canadian company that had bid on a multimillion-dollar contract for the supply of a security system in India. the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...
(RCMP) had begun their investigation the company in January 2010 over allegations that it had made improper payments to government officials in Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...
. This high profile CFPOA investigation resulted in charges being made in May 2010 against Nazir Karigar for allegedly "provided a luxury SUV worth over $190,000 and paid for the air travel for a Bangladesh minister to persuade him to decide a contract dispute in the ilo'sfavor." When Niko Resources pled guilt and "agreed to pay the Canadian government $9.5 million to settle the case, this was seen as a "positive sign" for future CFPOA cases.
By May 2010, CFPOA prosecutors were investigating 20 corruption cases.
In their 2016-2017 report to parliament, ongoing cases involved SNC-Lavalin
SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. is a Canadian company based in Montreal that provides engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services to various industries, including mining and metallurgy, oil and gas, environment and water, infrastructure, ...
, Cryptometrics, and Canadian General Aircraft in Calgary.
Concluded cases
Matters concluded involved cases related to the Padma Multipurpose Bridge
The Padma Multipurpose Bridge ( bn, পদ্মা বহুমুখী সেতু, Pôdma Bôhumukhī Setu), commonly known as the Padma Bridge ( bn, পদ্মা সেতু, Pôdma Setu), is a two-level road-rail bridge across the ...
Project, World Bank Group v. Wallace, Griffiths Energy International Inc, Niko Resources Ltd., and Hydro-Kleen Group Inc.
On January 25 2013, Calgary-based Griffiths International Energy Inc., a privately-held oil and gas company pleaded guilty to bribing the Chadian Ambassador to Canada to bid for an oil and gas contract in Chad. Griffiths had "voluntarily self-disclosed its internal investigation" to the RCMP's International Anti-Corruption Unit in November 2011.
Conviction of individuals under CFPOA
In 2016, the court sentenced Nazir Karigar to a three-year prison term, the first conviction of an individual under the CFPOA. The second CFPOA conviction of an individual was on December 17, 2018, when Quebec’s Superior Court of Justice handed down a three-year sentence to Yanaï Elbaz for his "involvement in a bribery scheme in which SNC-Lavalin secured a $1.3 billion contract to build McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). Elbaz was a MUHC senior manager at the time. The trial and sentencing of Mr. Elbaz is "one of the most significant corruption convictions in Canadian history, and may mark a shift in Canada’s enforcement of its anti-bribery legislation".
See also
* United Nations Convention against Corruption
*Politically exposed person
In financial regulation, a politically exposed person (PEP) is one who has been entrusted with a prominent public function. A PEP generally presents a higher risk for potential involvement in bribery and corruption by virtue of their position and ...
* The UK Bribery Act
*OECD Anti-Bribery Convention
The OECD Anti-Bribery Convention (officially Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions) is an anti-corruption convention of the OECD that requires signatory countries to criminalize bribe ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corruption Of Foreign Public Officials Act
Canadian business law
Canadian federal legislation
1999 in Canadian law