Anticorruption and Integrity

Integrity Division

OAG has established an Integrity Division (OAGI) to handle all matters related to allegations of fraud and corruption. OAGI handles such matters through

• Screening and Investigation
• Penalties
• Appeals

For a more detailed explanation of how ADB addresses fraud and corruption, see the Anticorruption Policy and Procedures.

For more details on its major activities, including summaries of significant cases, see OAGI's 2004 Annual Reports. [ PDF: 453kb | 30 pages ]

Screening and Investigation

Screening

The Integrity Division of the Office of the Auditor General (OAGI) will screen any allegation or evidence of fraud or corruption to determine whether it warrants further investigation.

While OAGI will receive and screen anonymous submissions, OAGI encourages anyone submitting an allegation or evidence to do so on an identified basis to facilitate investigation.

OAGI will treat sources of allegations of fraud or corruption with the utmost confidentiality and discretion.

Integrity Oversight Committee

An Integrity Oversight Committee (formerly Oversight Committee on Anticorruption) determines if bidders, consultants, contractors, suppliers, or other parties to ADB-financed activity (other than ADB staff) failed to comply with the Anticorruption Policy or procedures and, if so, will determine the appropriate remedial action (sanction). The Integrity Oversight Committee may make operational recommendations related to the cases it considers.

The Integrity Oversight Committee consists of three regular voting members, and three alternate members who fill any vacancies that may occur among the regular members due to absence or conflict of interest. Members have been nominated by the Auditor General and approved by the President. The head of Central Operations Services Office (COSO) or a representative designated by the head, COSO, and an Assistant General Counsel designated by the General Counsel will advise the Integrity Oversight Committee. Committee decisions are by majority vote. OAGI serves as the secretariat to the Integrity Oversight Committee.

Investigation

OAGI, external auditors, investigators, or other experts selected and managed by OAGI, or others designated by the Integrity Oversight Committee, may conduct investigations.

In certain cases, the Integrity Oversight Committee, with the concurrence of the President, also may refer matters for investigation to appropriate authorities of a concerned member government. This may include the borrowing country, the country of which the subject of investigation is a national, or the country where the alleged incident occurred.

To the extent possible, OAGI will give the subject of investigation an opportunity to comment in writing upon the allegation(s) and to bring to the Integrity Oversight Committee's attention any other relevant information.

When an investigation is complete, OAGI will submit its findings to the Integrity Oversight Committee. The Integrity Oversight Committee retains sole discretion to determine the relevance of the evidence submitted before it.

On the basis of OAGI's findings, and taking into consideration the submissions of the subject of investigation, the Integrity Oversight Committee will assess whether the alleged violation took place, if the case should continue for further inquiry, or if the case should close.

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Penalties

Corrective Action

If the Integrity Oversight Committee determines that the subject of investigation has engaged in fraudulent or corrupt practices as defined by ADB's Anticorruption Policy in any ADB-financed operations, it then decides what sanction or remedial action ADB should impose.

• Joint Attack on Fraud, August 2004

ADB may declare a firm or individual ineligible from participating in ADB-financed projects and activities for a specified period of time or indefinitely. ADB may refuse to finance certain expenditures, suspend disbursements, accelerate maturities of loans, or cancel loans.

If ADB consistently encounters problems within a particular executing agency or sector, it could change its programming mix to avoid future lending and Technical Assistance (TA) operations in that area. In consultation with the member country, ADB can also focus its lending and TA program upon strengthening government institutions, nongovernment organizations, and civil society to facilitate greater transparency and accountability in that sector.

If ADB finds its staff engaged in corrupt conduct, it may subject the staff member to

• written censure
• restitution and/or forfeiture of pay and reduction in pay
• removal of privileges or benefits
• suspension from duty with reduced pay or without pay
• reassignment
• demotion
• dismissal, or
• summary dismissal

These sanctions will apply equally to situations in which staff improperly and unlawfully enrich themselves or those close to them, and circumstances in which they induce others to do so.

Suspension or Cancellation of Loans

ADB may cancel the portion of a loan allocated to a contract for goods or works if it determines that representatives of the borrower or a beneficiary of the loan engaged in corrupt or fraudulent practices.

If ADB determines that corruption has reached such proportions that it is a significant impediment to the integrity of ADB operations or the attainment of a country's fundamental development objectives, it could elect to suspend ADB lending and TA operations to that country.

Conversely, where a member country has made significant progress in improving the efficiency, effectiveness, and integrity of its public and private sectors, ADB may accelerate the lending program or provide additional TA resources to ensure sustainability of the reforms.

Reporting

As a matter of general policy, ADB does not release to external parties any information pertaining to a specific fraud or corruption investigation until it completes its investigation. When there is compelling evidence that corrupt activities have hampered the effectiveness of ADB-financed projects or lowered their rate of return, ADB staff should explicitly note this in ADB documentation.

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Appeals

Sanction Appeals Committee

Individuals and firms may appeal sanctions to a Sanction Appeals Committee (formerly Review Committee on Anticorruption). The applicant must submit an appeal within 90 days from the date ADB issued the Integrity Oversight Committee's decision, which it provides either by written notice or by posting on this website. Appeals must be in writing and must clearly and succinctly state the reason(s) for the requested review of the decision of the Integrity Oversight Committee.

The Sanction Appeals Committee shall consider any new information to the extent that such information was not known, or could not reasonably have been known, to the firm or the individual at the time that explanations were sought by the Integrity Oversight Committee and such information is relevant to the decision of the Integrity Oversight Committee.

The decision of the Sanction Appeals Committee on any such appeal is final and binding and not subject to further appeal.

A Vice-President with the longest vice presidential tenure chairs the Sanction Appeals Committee, which consists of three Vice-Presidents nominated by the Auditor General as Secretariat to the Committee. The Auditor General and/or the Auditor General's designated representative shall be present in an advisory capacity. The General Counsel may be present in an advisory capacity.

The Sanction Appeals Committee will render its decision only on the basis of a consensus of all the members. In case of failure to reach a unanimous decision of the members, the Chair will refer the matter to the President to resolve the differences and reach a unanimous decision. If a unanimous decision is still not possible, the President shall make a final decision.