Zuma Press

But now it’s time to peer into the future, to what promises to be another groundbreaking year on several anti-corruption fronts. We’ve listed below 10 trends we expect to see in 2011. But don’t take our word for it — please, write us with your own forecasts.

More anti-corruption enforcement by foreign nations: The anti-graft group Transparency International found that seven parties to the OECD anti-bribery convention actively enforced it in 2010, up from four in 2009. The U.K. Bribery Act, which takes effect in April, has the potential to reach corruption anywhere on the globe, and U.K. investigators are eager to grab some of the market share from their counterparts in the U.S. Nigeria, meanwhile, has capitalized on U.S. anti-bribery cases, opening its own probes into Halliburton Co., Panalpina Group and others. Earlier this week, authorities in Malaysia and Honduras announced investigations that piggyback on the U.S. probe of French telecommunications company Alcatel-Lucent SA, which agreed to pay $137 million to resolve bribery allegations. And the U.S. now routinely includes language in settlement agreements requiring companies to cooperate with foreign authorities and multilateral development banks.

via Corruption Currents: Trends To Look For In 2011 – Corruption Currents – WSJ.

Simply put, a facilitation payment is what is more colloquially referred to as a “grease” payment.

Some jurisdictions allow them, others forbid them and yet others don’t allow them but provide exceptions because of their intrinsically extortionate nature.

Indeed, the United Kingdom, still in the midst of debating the final form of its new anti-corruption law expected to be adopted in mid 2010, is yet to have settled the issue. On International Anti-Corruption Day, December 9, 2009, the OECD announced an expansion of the efforts of its 30 member countries and additional eight signatory nations with regard to its anti-corruption efforts.

via Facilitation Payments: A business integrity officer’s perspective – Ethical Corporation.