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Greece - OECD Anti-Bribery Convention
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) assessment report on Greece's implementation of the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions was published today, 22 March 2022. The text of the report recognises the efforts made by Greece in recent years at institutional and organisational level for the more effective detection and prosecution of the offence of bribery of foreign public officials.
In this context, the establishment of the National Transparency Authority (NTA) is recognised as an important development in the right direction. More specifically, the actions implemented by the Authority for the training of the competent audit and prosecution bodies and the actions to raise awareness among public and private organisations on issues related to the fight against bribery of foreign public officials in international business transactions and corruption, in general, are positively assessed. In addition, specific reference is made to the added value of the establishment and action of the National Coordination Body for Audits and Accountability operating within the NTA.
Furthermore, the National Risk Assessment for the fight against money laundering is assessed as an important policy tool. The possibility of freezing or even seizing assets in the context of the provision of Mutual Legal Assistance is also encouraged. Particular emphasis is placed on the National Strategic Plan for Combating Corruption (NACAP) 2022-2025, which includes actions targeting this offence, the implementation of which is expected to make a decisive contribution to the national effort to tackle bribery cases. Finally, the importance of the cooperation of the NTA with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in contributing the country's diplomatic authorities to the efforts to detect the offence is also recognised.
The report makes recommendations and identifies areas for improvement, such as the independent recognition of the criminal liability of legal persons, more effective detection of bribery of foreign public officials, and measures to protect persons who disclose such violations. The report notes that the merger of the Corruption Prosecutor's Office with the Financial Crime Prosecutor's Office, with the aim of addressing overlapping responsibilities and resources, exploiting synergies and pooling expertise, will be monitored to ensure effective investigation of the offence of bribery of foreign public officials. The progress in implementing the recommendations of the report will be monitored by the Agency over the next two years through written reports.
The NTA participated and coordinated the overall evaluation process of our country by the OECD by collecting and sending a large amount of data. The Authority organised and hosted the work of the on-site visit of the team of OECD evaluators consisting of members of the OSA Secretariat, as well as four evaluators, prosecutors and senior public officials, from Korea and Lithuania. The team of evaluators had the opportunity to talk to more than 80 representatives of public and private sector bodies. Participants included prosecutors and judges, members of the Greek Parliament, civil servants, executives of private companies and public institutions, representatives of professional associations, chambers, banks, audit firms, members of the academic community, lawyers, chartered accountants, as well as representatives of civil society and the media.