Prevention of Bribery
Responsibility: Fair competition in international trade
The corruption-free transaction of export business and its financing is of great importance to the Federal Government because it considers this to be a crucial aspect of sustainability. Accordingly, the absence of corruption is an essential criterion for a transaction’s eligibility for support in connection with the granting of export credit guarantees.
The basis for the regulations governing the prevention of and the fight against bribery in state export promotion is the „Recommendation of the Council on Bribery and Officially Supported Export Credits“ der OECD („OECD Recommendation on Bribery“). The Federal Government has traditionally played an active role at the OECD in shaping the principles on which the fight against corruption is based in order to help establishing fair international trading conditions and a level playing field and encouraging responsible corporate behaviour between the parties involved.
Basis for the prevention of bribery
The corruption-free transaction of export business and its financing is an essential criterion for a transaction’s eligibility for support. In connection with the granting of export credit guarantees, this means:
- The Federal Government will not provide any export credit guarantees for transactions which were arranged through criminal offences.
- If it turns out afterwards that the covered export or financing transaction was effected through bribery, the Federal Government can plead release from liability and/or right to recourse pursuant to the General Terms and Conditions of cover.
Practical measures to prevent bribery in connection with the granting of cover
The OECD Recommendation on Bribery is implemented in the German export credit guarantee scheme through a two-stage procedure:
1. Anti-Corruption Declaration
Firstly, exporters and banks must always sign an anti-corruption declaration in the course of the application procedure.
Key elements of this declaration are:
- confirmation that the transaction, which is to be covered, has been brought about free of corruption
- information on any criminal charges, (criminal) investigations, sentences, official measures and arbitral awards in connection with corrupt actions not linked to the transaction in question
2. In-depth examination of individual cases
If there is any indication that there may have been corruption-related incidents, either in this anti-corruption declaration or from other sources, an enhanced due diligence will additionally be performed before export credit cover for the export or financing transaction is granted. In the course of this in-depth examination, the Compliance Management System of the company in question (inter alia, in-house measures, processes and structures implemented to prevent and combat bribery) will be analysed on the one hand. On the other hand, a closer look will be taken at the circumstances under which the concrete transaction covered was concluded and any indications of corruption will be examined.
Additional information
You will find additional information on the subject of prevention of corruption on the following pages:
The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action published a small booklet on the subject „Preventing corruption - Guidelines for German companies operation abroad“ (at of November 2018/German version only).
- It gives an overview over the most important regulations of the German criminal and regulatory offences law sanctioning corrupt acts in connection with business activities abroad. Besides, recommendations for the prevention of corruption and the establishment of a Compliance Management System are also included.
- A collection of further information on the subject corruption can be found on the Germany Trade & Invest.
- The OECD’s basic documents and information on the subject prevention of corruption can be found on the OECD zum Thema "Bribery and export credits" with further links.
