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Phase 3 Report on Implementing the Oecd Anti-Bribery Convention

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Phase 3 Report on Implementing the Oecd Anti-Bribery Convention PHASE 3 REPORT ON IMPLEMENTING THE OECD ANTI-BRIBERY CONVENTION IN PORTUGAL June 2013 This Phase 3 Report on Portugal by the OECD Working Group on Bribery evaluates and makes recommendations on Portugal's implementation of the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions and the 2009 Recommendation of the Council for Further Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions. It was adopted by the Working Group on 14 June 2013. This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................. 5 A. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 7 1. The On-Site Visit .................................................................................................................................. 7 2. Summary of the Monitoring Steps Leading to Phase 3 ........................................................................ 7 3. Outline of the Report ............................................................................................................................ 7 4. Economic Background.......................................................................................................................... 8 5. Autonomous Territories of Azores and Madeira .................................................................................. 8 6. Cases Involving Bribery of Foreign Public Officials ........................................................................... 9 (a) Foreign Bribery Cases Terminated without Prosecution ............................................................. 9 (b) On-Going Foreign Bribery Cases .............................................................................................. 11 B. IMPLEMENTATION AND APPLICATION BY PORTUGAL OF THE CONVENTION AND THE 2009 RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................................. 13 1. Foreign Bribery Offence ..................................................................................................................... 13 (a) Offer, Promise or Give .............................................................................................................. 13 (b) Bribery through Intermediaries ................................................................................................. 14 (c) Definition of a Foreign Public Official ...................................................................................... 14 (d) Bribes Given to a Third Party .................................................................................................... 15 (e) Bribery in Order that the Official Act or Refrain from Acting in Relation to the Performance of Official Duties .................................................................................................................................... 15 (f) Multiple Foreign Bribery Offences ........................................................................................... 15 (g) Defences to the Foreign Bribery Offence .................................................................................. 16 2. Responsibility of Legal Persons ......................................................................................................... 16 (a) Applicable Statutory Provisions ................................................................................................ 16 (b) Legal Persons Subject to Liability ............................................................................................. 17 (c) Acts that May Trigger Liability ................................................................................................. 17 (d) Natural Persons Acting against Express Orders or Instructions of Legal Persons .................... 18 (e) Investigation and Prosecution of a Natural Person .................................................................... 19 3. Sanctions for Foreign Bribery and Related Offences ......................................................................... 19 (a) Sanctions against Natural and Legal Persons for Foreign Bribery ............................................ 19 (b) Sanctions for False Accounting ................................................................................................. 20 4. Confiscation of the Bribe and the Proceeds of Bribery ...................................................................... 21 5. Investigation and Prosecution of the Foreign Bribery Offence .......................................................... 21 (a) Co-ordination and Case Assignment ......................................................................................... 21 (b) Commencement and Termination of Investigations and Proceedings ....................................... 22 (c) Proactive Enforcement .............................................................................................................. 22 (i) Inadequate Investigation before Termination of Cases ............................................................. 23 (ii) Lack of Proactivity in Seeking Co-operation from Foreign Authorities ................................... 24 (iii) Deferring to Foreign Authorities ........................................................................................... 26 (d) Article 5 of the Convention ....................................................................................................... 27 (e) Absence of Corporate Prosecutions ........................................................................................... 29 (f) Jurisdiction to Prosecute Foreign Bribery ................................................................................. 30 (i) Jurisdiction over Natural Persons for Extraterritorial Foreign Bribery ..................................... 30 (ii) Jurisdiction over Legal Persons for Extraterritorial Foreign Bribery ........................................ 31 (g) Statute of Limitations ................................................................................................................ 31 (h) Priority, Resources and Expertise .............................................................................................. 32 (i) Investigative Techniques ........................................................................................................... 33 (i) Asset Freezing and Seizure ........................................................................................................ 33 3 (ii) Bank and Tax Secrecy ............................................................................................................... 33 (iii) Special Investigative Techniques .......................................................................................... 34 (iv) Gathering Evidence from Madeira and Azores ..................................................................... 34 6. Money Laundering.............................................................................................................................. 34 (a) Money Laundering Offence ....................................................................................................... 34 (b) Anti-Money Laundering Measures ............................................................................................ 35 7. Accounting Requirements, External Audit, and Corporate Compliance and Ethics Programmes ..... 36 (a) Accounting Standards ................................................................................................................ 36 (b) Detection of Foreign Bribery by External Auditors .................................................................. 36 (c) Reporting of Foreign Bribery by External Auditors .................................................................. 37 (d) Corporate Compliance, Internal Controls and Ethics Programmes ........................................... 38 8. Tax Measures for Combating Bribery ................................................................................................ 39 (a) Tax Deductibility of Bribe Payments ........................................................................................ 39 (b) Detection and Awareness-Raising ............................................................................................. 40 (c) Undocumented Expenses ........................................................................................................... 40 (d) Reporting Foreign Bribery and Sharing Tax Information ......................................................... 41 9. International Co-operation .................................................................................................................. 42 (a) Mutual Legal Assistance ........................................................................................................... 42 (b) Extradition ................................................................................................................................. 43 10. Public Awareness and the Reporting of Foreign Bribery ............................................................... 44 (a) Awareness
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