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Country reports: Americas
United States of America
Corruption Perceptions Index 2008: 7.3 (18th out of 180 countries) Conventions OAS Inter-American Convention against Corruption (signed June 1996; ratified September 2000) OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials (signed December 1997; ratified December 1998) UN Convention against Corruption (signed December 2003; ratified October 2006) UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (signed December 2000; ratified November 2005)
Legal and institutional changes ● The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (HLOGA)1 was signed into law in September 2007, significantly increasing public disclosure requirements for lobbyists registered under the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA), the principal federal lobbying disclosure law. The HLOGA reforms became effective on 1 January 2008, requiring quarterly reporting on lobbying activity and semi-annual reporting on political and certain other contributions (see Global Corruption Report 2008). Registered lobbyists made their first semi-annual political contribution filings in July 2008. ● In March 2008 an important reform not included in HLOGA was adopted by the House of Representatives. The reform establishes an independent ethics office to strengthen enforcement of congressional ethics rules. The new Office of Congressional Ethics and
independent oversight board will oversee enforcement of financial disclosure, gifts and other rules governing members of the House. Eight former officials (four from each political party, including two alternates) were appointed to the board in July. As leading political reform groups have noted, when the oversight board and Ethics Office become operational (probably not before January 2009) this will mark the first time that private citizens have been entrusted with an active role in the congressional ethics enforcement process.2 ● The Congress is considering legislation3 that would require oil, gas and mining companies registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission to disclose revenues paid to foreign governments for natural resources. In July 2008 the bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
1 Public Law no. 110-81. 2 See, for example, Common Cause, ‘House Leaders Appoint Distinguished Panel to Lead New Ethics Office’, press release, 24 July 2008. 3 H.R. 6066, S. 3389, ‘Extractive Industries Transparency Disclosure Act’.