The paper discusses the international initiatives to criminalize foreign bribery. Bribery is a well-known international issue. Different countries have different names for it: Mexicans call bribes “mordida”, people in Southern Asia say that it is “kumshaw”, and citizens of Middle East name it “baksheesh”. However, different names do not change the gist. Bribery exists unofficially; though, it is not approved in any country of the world.
Today, there exist a great number of anti-bribery organizations that introduce various policies and acts aimed at reducing this phenomenon worldwide. They affect the international bribery on a large scale with the help of their policies and activities.
In 1998, the U.S. Senate introduced the International Anti-Bribery Act. It strengthened the prohibition of international bribery and other corrupt practices. In 1977, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act was created. In 1993, Transparency International was established. Its main objective was curbing corruption in the international business. However, it is worth noting that these initiatives are nor very efficient. Researcher Stachowicz-Stanusch discusses the issue of anti-bribery initiatives in her book Organizational Immunity to Corruption: Building Theoretical and Research Foundations and states that according to recent studies, a great number of companies are engaged in the anti-bribery initiatives. She indicates that the most essential initiatives include, “kickbacks, extortion, protection money, facilitation payments, conflicts of interest, gifts and hospitality, fraud and money laundering, and political and charitable contributions”.
The main drawback of the abovementioned policies and acts is the absence of unity. Every country introduces its own laws concerning the international bribery. Unfortunately, a number of countries do not criminalize the official’s bribery of another country. Such actions give the corrupt officials an opportunity to leave their native country and to seek the safety abroad. Such scheme promotes this form of corruption.