Combating Global Corruption and Ensuring Accountability Act of 2016

Combating Global Corruption and Ensuring Accountability Act of 2016

This bill directs the the Department of State to: (1) submit an annual report describing the status of corruption in foreign countries and assessing each country's anti-corruption efforts; and (2) annually publish on a publicly accessible website a four-tiered ranking based upon a government's efforts to comply with the minimum anti-corruption standards prescribed in the bill.

The bill states that a government is complying with such standards if it:

• has enacted and judicially enforces laws, and has established structures and practices, that prohibit corruption;
• prescribes punishment for grand corruption that is commensurate with the punishment for serious crimes;
• prescribes punishment for petty corruption that provides a sufficient deterrent and reflects the nature of the offense; and
• is making sustained anti-corruption efforts.

The State Department shall, prior to the obligation of any foreign assistance (except acute humanitarian and disaster assistance) to a tier 3 or tier 4 country:

• conduct a corruption risk assessment and create a corruption mitigation strategy for all foreign assistance programs to that country,
• require the inclusion of anti-corruption clauses for all foreign assistance contracts and grants,
• require disclosure of the beneficial ownership of all entities receiving foreign assistance funding, and
• establish a mechanism for investigating allegations of misappropriated foreign assistance funds or equipment.

The State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development shall consolidate existing reports with anti-corruption components into one online, public platform.

The State Department and the Department of Defense shall submit a strategy that details (1) how the U.S. government will incorporate corruption risk assessments during security sector assistance with foreign security forces, and (2) how security sector assistance will improve security sector governance.

The bill expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) identifying the true beneficial owners of companies formed in the United States or abroad and the property that has been removed from a country in connection with corrupt activities is an important part of combating corruption; and (2) the President should develop a comprehensive approach to requiring such beneficial ownership information for companies formed in the United States or abroad.