Office of Anticorruption and Integrity (OAI)

The Office of Anticorruption and Integrity (OAI) is the Asian Development Bank's dedicated unit for receiving, assessing, and investigating complaints of corrupt, fraudulent, collusive, coercive, and obstructive practices in ADB-financed projects and ADB's own operations.

What is the Office of Anticorruption and Integrity (OAI)?

OAI was established to give ADB an independent internal mechanism for integrity enforcement, separating investigation from the operational departments that manage lending and procurement. It operates under the adb-anticorruption-policy and accepts complaints from any source, including anonymous reports, through a dedicated intake channel on ADB's website. When a complaint meets the threshold for investigation, OAI opens a formal case, conducts document review and interviews, and prepares findings for consideration by ADB's Integrity Oversight Committee, which decides whether sanctions are warranted.

OAI's sanctions toolkit includes reprimand, debarment for a fixed period, and permanent debarment. Because ADB participates in the cross-debarment agreement alongside the World Bank, AfDB, EBRD, and IDB, any debarment imposed following an OAI investigation is automatically recognised by those institutions. OAI also publishes a list of sanctioned entities on adb.org, giving procurement teams across ADB-financed projects a reference to screen potential contractors and consultants.

Why OAI matters for bidders

OAI's existence has two practical implications for suppliers. First, the debarment list it maintains should be checked against all subcontractors, consortium members, and local agents before any submission, because using a debarred party can disqualify an otherwise strong bid. Second, OAI provides a legitimate channel for suppliers who observe or experience solicitation of bribes by project officials. Using this channel, which accepts anonymous reports, is both the ethical response and a commercially rational one: firms that pay facilitation demands become liable under the Anticorruption Policy themselves. Firms that report corruption and cooperate with investigations are generally treated more favourably than those that participate and are later discovered.

FAQ

How does a supplier access OAI's debarment list?

The list of ADB-sanctioned entities is published on adb.org under the OAI section and is searchable by firm name and country. ADB also participates in the shared World Bank debarment list for cross-debarred parties.

Can a debarred firm appeal an OAI sanction?

Yes. ADB's integrity process includes an appeals mechanism through which a sanctioned party can challenge the findings before the debarment becomes final.

Does OAI investigate allegations involving ADB staff?

Yes. OAI's mandate covers integrity allegations against ADB staff as well as external parties, ensuring that procurement-side corruption by bank employees is subject to investigation.