The Basel Institute signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate with Colombian authorities to adapt and apply a High Level Reporting Mechanism (HLRM) to prevent corruption and promote fair competition in tenders related to the building of the City of Bogotá’s First Metro Line. The signing ceremony held on 6 August 2018 in Bogotá was one of the final acts by Colombia’s outgoing President Juan Manuel Santos on his last day in office and the day that marked the 280th anniversary of the founding of Bogotá.
This report discusses the different contexts and processes through which a High Level Reporting Mechanism (HLRM) has been designed and implemented in Colombia, Ukraine, Panama and Argentina, as well as initial interest in the HLRM model in Peru.
Its aim is to understand the specificities of each case and draw lessons applicable to future projects in other countries, whilst respecting the commitment to develop an HLRM that takes account of the specific country’s context.
The responsibility for governments to address bribe solicitation derives from internationally recognised anticorruption standards all of which prohibit the ‘demand side’ of bribery, namely, the solicitation by a public official of an undue advantage.