The Evolution of the Incentives for Anti-Corruption Corporate Compliance Programs in the International Legal Order

Abstract

The corporate compliance programs have proliferated worldwide in the last two decades. This innovative study explores the role of the International Anti-Corruption Regime (IACR) in this phenomenon. Analyzing documents from 18 international actors, it identifies 52 directly promoting compliance programs, beginning in 2002, after the regime’s 1996 inception. These promotions are primarily in non-binding instruments, which present compliance programs as an anti-corruption strategy for business, government, and collective actions. This mapping reveals a transition in the IACR’s inception of these programs, starting from a bribery-focused to a broader anti-corruption approach, and more recently endorsing a connection with the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) agenda. This article also offers insights about the link between the IACR and countries' legal reforms promoting compliance. Shedding light on compliance program evolution within the IACR, the study contributes to understanding the strategy’s rise and to an emerging legal scholarship in international compliance studies. Keywords: International Law, Anti-Corruption, Corporate Compliance Programs, Legal Incentives