In a report following an extra review of the UK’s implementation of its obligations under the Convention, the OECD said it was “disappointed and seriously concerned with the unsatisfactory implementation of the convention by the UK,” reports the Guardian.

“We need an adequate law and we need it immediately,” said Chairman of the Working Group on Bribery and TI Integrity Award winner Mark Pieth at the press conference (International Herald Tribune).

“There have been only two cases in the UK since the 1997 OECD Anti-Bribery Convention came into force. In contrast, there have been 103 cases in the USA, 43 in Germany, and 19 in France,” noted Laurence Cockcroft, Chairman of Transparency International UK (The Telegraph). “The facts are plain to see, more prosecutions of companies and individuals are needed to send the right message to business.”

According to the Guardian, Jack Straw, British Justice Secretary, said the government welcomes the report and will now “carefully consider its recommendations, alongside the Law Commission's imminent proposals on bribery law reform.” He also noted that “the UK is fully committed to combating foreign bribery, which hurts honest companies and raises the costs of doing business.”

However, David Leigh, investigative editor at the Guardian, cautioned that unless the government makes the commitment to legislate with a concrete timeline, “all the government's words will be seen as worthless by anti-corruption campaigners.”

The Working Group also warned that “uncertainty over the UK’s legislative framework may trigger a need for increased due diligence over UK companies by their commercial partners or multilateral development banks” (OECD).

While the OECD group has “no formal powers to impose sanctions against Britain or force companies to change their behaviour […] its criticisms will be widely noticed worldwide and could have both a reputational and practical impact on British multinationals,” reports the Financial Times.

According to the same article though, the British employee’s organisation CBI rejected the idea that “foreign multinationals and institutions dealing with British companies would have to take extra care – and spend more cash- to avoid becoming entangled in corruption.”