The past twenty years have seen unprecedented international initiatives aimed at combatting corrupt practices. Over the same period, Italy has ratified and implemented within its legal system five international anti-corruption treaties and amended its domestic legislation on different occasions. However, despite considerable efforts, corruption remains a serious challenge in the country. With particular reference to the aforementioned conventions, this article explores the main international rules on criminalisation and prevention of corruption in order to assess achievements and limits of the Italian legislation in light of such provisions. The article is thus divided into two main sections. The first considers the development of the regional and other anti-corruption initiatives which culminated in the United Nations Convention against Corruption; the second examines the main achievements and shortcomings of the Italian anti-corruption legislation in light of the outcomes of the monitoring procedures set by the international instruments ratified by Italy.