Commodity trading presents specific and heightened risks of corruption due to the large amount of money involved in commodity trading transactions, which are source of important revenues for developing countries, and due to the sophisticated mechanisms used to channel corrupt payments.

Commodity trading presents specific and heightened risks of corruption due to the large amount of money involved in commodity trading transactions, which are source of important revenues for developing countries, and due to the sophisticated mechanisms used to channel corrupt payments. These include complex and opaque corporate structures, the use of off-shore entities, that render the identification of beneficial owners more difficult, the use of intermediaries (including briefcase or shell companies) and joint ventures with politically exposed persons (PEPs). This report maps out corruption risks of cross-cutting relevance for the sales of oil, gas and minerals that can arise at several points in commodity trading transactions. It contributes to advancing the global transparency and accountability agenda in commodity trading, by improving understanding and raising awareness of corruption red flags and evolving corruption patterns across a wide range of stakeholders, including home jurisdictions of buying companies, trading hubs, host governments, state-owned enterprises and buying companies.

Commodity trading presents specific and heightened risks of corruption due to the large amount of money involved in commodity trading transactions, which are source of important revenues for developing countries, and due to the sophisticated mechanisms used to channel corrupt payments. These include complex and opaque corporate structures, the use of off-shore entities, that render the identification of beneficial owners more difficult, the use of intermediaries (including briefcase or shell companies) and joint ventures with politically exposed persons (PEPs). This report maps out corruption risks of cross-cutting relevance for the sales of oil, gas and minerals that can arise at several points in commodity trading transactions. It contributes to advancing the global transparency and accountability agenda in commodity trading, by improving understanding and raising awareness of corruption red flags and evolving corruption patterns across a wide range of stakeholders, including home jurisdictions of buying companies, trading hubs, host governments, state-owned enterprises and buying companies.

This report is intended to help policy makers, law enforcement officials and stakeholders strengthen prevention efforts at both the public and private levels, through improved understanding and enhanced awareness of corruption risk and mechanisms.

Given their sheer magnitude, the payments made by companies for the purchase of oil, gas and minerals from governments or state-owned enterprises are of significant public interest. However, only a few commodity trading companies regularly publicly disclose information in respect of their payments to governments for the purchase of these publicly-owned commodities.

One case of transnational corruption out of five occurs in the extractive sector according to the 2014 OECD Foreign Bribery Report. In this area, corruption has become increasingly complex and sophisticated affecting each stage of the extractive value chain with potential huge revenue losses for the public coffers. This report is intended to help policy makers, law enforcement officials and stakeholders strengthen prevention efforts at both the public and private levels, through improved understanding and enhanced awareness of corruption risk and mechanisms. It will help better tailoring responses to evolving corruption patterns and effectively countering adaptive strategies. The report also offers options to put a cost on corruption to make it less attractive at both the public and private levels.

One case of transnational corruption out of five occurs in the extractive sector according to the 2014 OECD Foreign Bribery Report. In this area, corruption has become increasingly complex and sophisticated affecting each stage of the extractive value chain with potential huge revenue losses for the public coffers. This report is intended to help policy makers, law enforcement officials and stakeholders strengthen prevention efforts at both the public and private levels, through improved understanding and enhanced awareness of corruption risk and mechanisms. It will help better tailoring responses to evolving corruption patterns and effectively countering adaptive strategies. The report also offers options to put a cost on corruption to make it less attractive at both the public and private levels.