Only two Parties, Canada and New Zealand, improved their rankings from TI’s 2013 study. Canada’s improved ranking is attributed largely to amendments to the country’s Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act (CFPOA), including the addition of a “books and records” offense for efforts to conceal bribe payments in corporate financial accounting records, and an increase in the maximum period of incarceration for bribery offenses from five to 14 years. Notably, however, Canada still lacks a civil enforcement option under the CFPOA.
Several of the world’s largest economies, including China, Brazil, Mexico and Russia, were ranked as having “little or no enforcement.” In total, the 30 countries categorized as having “limited” or “little to no enforcement” represent approximately one-third of the world’s exports.