Introduction

"Corruption is an insidious plague that has a wide range of corrosive effects on societies. It undermines democracy and the rule of law, leads to violations of human rights, distorts markets, erodes the quality of life and allows organized crime, terrorism and other threats to human security to flourish." Nevertheless, corruption in international business transactions is widespread - not only, but to a high degree, in business transactions with a nexus to developing countries in Central and South America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, and often still involving companies ...