The Global Enforcement Report

Key findings from the 2018 GER

• While the number of open U.S. investigations into foreign-bribery allegations dropped slightly in 2018, there was a notable increase in the number of open investigations worldwide, with an expanding range of investigating countries. Europe in particular saw its number of open investigations climb by approximately 37%, and the region now accounts for more than half of all foreign-bribery investigations. (See Figure 1. in the 2018 Report)

• The past year saw a notable growth in U.S. enforcement, with the number of U.S. enforcement actions increasing by more than half, approaching the record-setting volume of 2016. The pace of enforcement actions by non-U.S. authorities remained essentially steady. (See Figure 3. in the 2018 Report)

• There was also an increase in the number of investigations concerning bribery of domestic officials by foreign sources, showing a rise of approximately 15%. The total cumulative number of domestic enforcement actions also demonstrated a healthy growth of approximately 22%. (See Figure 8, Figure 9. in the 2018 Report)

• The Financial Services industry remained the most heavily investigated by United States agencies in connection with foreign-bribery allegations, accounting for approximately 17% of all such investigations. In other jurisdictions, however, the focus remained elsewhere—most prominently the Extractive Industries, Engineering/Construction, and Aerospace/Defense/Security—with Financial Services accounting for only 6% of open investigations. (See Figures 13–16. in the 2018 Report)

Data from the 2018 GER is based primarily on the cases and investigations tracked in the TRACE Compendium, TRACE’s online searchable database of transnational corruption cases. 

Visit the compendium to search and view case summaries, and subscribe to receive enforcement alerts in your inbox.