Corruption has, for a long time, been an unfortunate characteristic of Brazil and a concern of international investors and business people. With the most prominent forms appearing in the country's political system, below are some short descriptions of the most publicised cases:

- Fernando Collor (president from 1990 to 1992) was exposed as having undertaken a number of corrupt extortions in a fairly unsubtle manner and subsequently resigned to avoid impeachment. In 1994, he was acquitted of corruption on the grounds of inadequate evidence and is now back in the Brazilian Senate.

- In 2002, $BRL 1.3 million was discovered during a police raid at presidential hopeful Roseana Sarney´s husbands office. Despite the controversy at the time, she reentered politics and is now back serving as state governor of Maranhão.

- The 'Mensalão' affair of 2005 saw the chairman of the Brazilian Labour Party (Partido Trabalhista Brasileiro, PTB) - Roberto Jefferson - being implicated in a bribery case. A Parliamentary Commission was set up where Jefferson stated that there were several MPs receiving money to vote for specific legislation to be put in place. In the same period, campaign manager Duda Mendonça admitted that undeclared and illegal funds (derived from private sources and laundered money through an advertising agency) were used to finance the PTB electoral victory of 2002.

- In 2009 Federal District governor, José Roberto Arruda, was caught handing bags of money to his legislator allies. What made this case particularly notable was the fact that that when Arruda's behaviour was exposed - the news was made widespread throughout the country and the politician was publically arrested and placed in custody: an unprecedented event in Brazil's history.

Whilst a 2010 study by German NGO Transparency International pointed to Brazil leading ahead of its BRIC counterparts (Russia, India and China), the recent Index of Economic Freedom stated that uncontrolled corruption amongst the political elite remains one of the main factors impeding the country´s excelled growth. Many of the Brazilian public believe that it is one of the main problems that the country faces.

According to Levy Brandão, leader of the campaign to oust José Arruda, the root causes of the problem are a lack of whistle-blowers and public transparency. He believes that, for Brazil to truly be able to grow sustainably, the political system needs to instill higher ethical standards than currently exist which, in turn, will filter into the economy and business world. Many campaigners also state that the punishment for corrupt politicians needs to be greater - many cases continue to go unnoticed and trials can take long periods of time within which corrupt politicians can renew their careers.

At the same time, it is worth noting that several Brazilian commentators debate that modern day principles of decency, avoidance of greed and abuse of power are emerging. According to Jorge Gerdau, chairman of Grupo Gerdau, one of Brazil's largest steelmakers: "There is a historical, cultural problem of a certain backwardness which is very hard to overcome but there is also increasing public demand for transparency and respect for the electorate."

Transparência, a São Paulo based NGO, claims that although political bribery does occur, some of the money is often redirected to fund election campaigns. Politicians often feel the need to bypass Brazil's orthodox campaign finance laws to further their chances of winning seats in the Senate.

In late 2009, President Lula signed a bill encouraging members of the public to report acts of corruption whilst, at the same time, offering support and protection for those that do. Indeed, most of Brazilians want to see corrupt politicians and people in power exposed and, in turn, more grass roots organisations are appearing across the country. The 'Arruda Out' campaign (run by student groups) was an excellent example of the power of self-creating groups taking to the streets to call for a more ethical Brazilian political system (the ´Arruda Out´ campaign attracted over 30,000 members). The leader of the campaign believes that the country is moving in the right direction - particularly with regards to media exposure as well as the internet allowing news to be spread quicker and easier. The fact that Arruda was placed in public custody should leave an impression on future generations of politicians to not impeach the law for their own gains.

In business and commerce, there are more companies wishing to decrease the level of corruption - one particularly successful organisation is the Pacto Empresarial pela Integridade e Contra a Corrupção (the Business Pact for Integrity and Anti-Corruption) which has over 1,300 members and rising, including most of Brazil´s major companies.