This information is derived from the State Department's Office of Investment Affairs' 2015 Investment Climate Statement. Any questions on the ICS can be directed to EB-ICS-DL@state.gov
Last Published: 6/15/2016

STP’s positive trajectory on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index reflects the reforms the government has undertaken in recent years.  The government approved a new anti-corruption law in 2012.  To reduce corruption by civil servants and to track the flow of money, authorities put in place a new requirement that all payments to government entities over USD 5 be made directly at the Central Bank and all salary payments to civil servants be paid directly to the employees' accounts at commercial banks.  A widely praised oil revenue management law was enacted in 2004 to responsibly manage any future oil revenue.  STP is an Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative candidate country.  The government has also taken steps to review and update existing contracts with some foreign companies to better support liberalization and free market competition.  The government has denounced corruption and pledged to take necessary steps to prevent and combat it.  
 
Although corruption in customs was historically an issue for foreign investors, an MCC Threshold Program resulted in a modern customs code and related decrees.  The MCC program introduced modern customs tracking software and eliminated manual procedures, removing the link between the customs agents and cash payments.  As a result, customs revenues have increased significantly while incidents of corruption reportedly have declined.  This modernization effort represents a fundamental legislative change from colonial-era customs laws and processes to internationally recognized and transparent best practices and principles.   

In 2013, the STP Parliament adopted a fully amended and restated anti-money laundering/counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) law which complies with international standards.  Of note, the law includes a clear description of the crimes involving money laundering and terrorism financing activities, specifies the persons and entities that authorities can hold criminally responsible, describes the sanctions that authorities can impose and the assets they can confiscate in connection with the criminal activities, and sets forth STP’s regulatory structure.  The law designates the Financial Information Unit (Unidade de Informação Financeira) as the central agency in STP with responsibility for investigating suspect transactions.  After appearing on previous versions, STP was removed from the Financial Action Task Force’s October 18, 2013 (FATF) list of countries that have strategic deficiencies in their AML/CFT standards and that have not made sufficient progress in addressing the deficiencies.  STP is a member of the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa, a FATF-style regional body.

UN Anticorruption Convention, OECD Convention on Combatting Bribery
STP signed and ratified the UN Anticorruption Convention.  It is not party to the Economic Co-operation and Development Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions.

Resources to Report Corruption
STP does not have a designated agency responsible for combatting corruption. 

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Sao Tome and Principe Economic Development and Investment Market Access