A Traveler's Guide to Gifts and Bribes

In today’s ever changing and competitive modern world of business, it is critical for the companies to have activities internationally. In order to prohibit frauds and illegal activities, several acts and documents have been elaborated. One of the documents is Foreign Corrupt Practices Act that has been enacted in the 1970’s, as a result of SEC investigation of several U.S. companies that made illegal payments to foreign governmental officials, politicians, and political parties (Barnes 73). The FCPA had a critical impact on the way U.S. firms do business. Companies that did not comply with FCPA have been subject of criminal and civil enforcement actions that later resulted in huge fines and sentences for

Chapter Three, entitled Bribes and Threats, from Beyond Discipline discussed many different tools such as coercion, punishment, and rewards being used for disciplining. These specific tools are counterintuitive and result in temporary compliance or even sometimes extreme behaviors. Because of these tools being used, it leads to disastrous outcomes and makes the teachers and schools uninviting and unproductive.

According to Benston (1977) an unaware public pays for government-required accounting disclosure. Sunstein (1999) claims that disclosure of information allows the federal government to control public and private conduct. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Over the decades accounting regulations have come from various sources. The Securities and Exchange Commission as well as the Internal Revenue Service and Interstate Commerce Commission are examples of regulatory bodies that promulgate accounting regulations. A more recent example occurred during the 1970s. During the Watergate era there were a number of investigations, some of which affected American business. One of the investigations, conducted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 1975, revealed that 19 publiclyheld corporations had made illegal campaign contributions and that these contributions were made from cash accounts that had not been recorded on the corporation’s books. (Heldack, 1977) This prompted the SEC to launch an investigation into what were considered ―questionable payments.‖ What came out of the investigation was that many U.S. multinational corporations were making hundreds of millions of dollars in ―questionable payments‖ to foreign officials to obtain business. As a result, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) was unanimously adopted by Congress in 1977. Bribery of foreign officials to obtain business for the corporation

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been pursued by government agencies recently as the SEC, the FBI, and Department of Justice are cracking down on international business corruption. Companies are working harder at expanding economically in the market by doing business with individuals and other companies in foreign countries. Foreign countries are not always in compliance with US laws and regulations, causing US companies who deal with them issues with compliance on the home front. Because of these ongoing issues congress decided to introduce the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and to prosecute foreign companies for corrupt activities within the United States. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is a federal law that was amended in 1977,

The largest impact internationally has been the result of the awareness of the FCPA. Since the U.S. government enacted the FCPA, it has raised awareness in foreign countries, many of which have enforced their own anti-bribery laws and have also signed on to the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development’s (OECD) Anti-Bribery Convention to show their commitment to the regulations of the anti-bribery laws. The OECD actually has no authority to enforce legislation and relies on the member countries to regulate the anti-bribery law. Foreign companies who are associated with U.S. markets and foreign government officials are now aware of the consequences of violating the FCPA.

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977- is a U.S. Federal Law that prohibits any U.S. citizen from bribing a foreign official for the purpose of obtaining

Many companies are trying to expand economically in the market by doing business with an individual or another company in foreign countries. These businesses are engaging in into using improper ways of payments that are leading to secret bribes to the foreign public officials. Foreign countries are not always in compliance with the laws and they tend not to follow them. Having these problems with the US and all the millions of dollars that have been passed they wanted to take a more affirmative approach and be able to correct the problem. That is when congress decided to introduce the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to prosecute foreign companies for corrupt payments within the United States. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is a federal

Since 1977, the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA have applied to all U.S. persons and certain foreign issuers of securities. With the enactment of certain amendments in 1998, the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA now also apply to foreign firms and persons who cause, directly or through agents, an act in furtherance of such a corrupt payment to take place within the territory of the United States.

Author Scott Nette clearly explains that in July 2007, Anthony Tesvich, Melissa Tesvich, James P. Robinson and Ronald K. Jonston was Investigated, charged and convicted on the Foreign Corrupt Act. “The Foreign Corrupt Act States that it is illegal for an US person, entity and certain applicable foreign entity to make and/or accept bribes or offer any inducement for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business with an US firm.” – Scott Nette

The Hong Kong office of Salomon Brothers, a U.S. investment bank, estimates that to meet the expanding demand for telecommunication service in Asia, companies will need:

There are many corporate organizations that have expanded their business opportunities outside of the U.S. Consequently, these global organizations are required to conform to The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA). Under the FCPA, anti-bribery and accounting provisions exist for companies to identify unlawful acts and comply with requirements by maintaining accurate records of transactions and implementing internal controls. (DoJ, 2015a, FCPA: An Overview section, para. 2-3).

More specifically, in 1988 Congress amended the law to add two affirmative defenses, “the local law defense and the reasonable and bona fide promotional expense defense” (“A Resource Guide to the FCPA…”, 2012, p.3). This makes it okay for businessmen or businesswomen to get money to travel for promotion of products or services and make corrupt bribes prosecutable under local law. The addition also requested that the President negotiate a international treaty to prohibit bribery in international business transactions (“A Resource Guide to the FCPA…”, 2012, p.3-4). The FCPA was later amended in 1998 again, and expanded the law to include payments made to secure “any improper advantage”, create a definition for “foreign official” and made penalties

Australia is a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Working Group on Bribery and a party to the key international conventions concerned with combating foreign bribery.

Some would say that in order to accomplish global corporate success, and growth, one must “work” the system to their advantage. In the 1970’s there was an increased awareness of illicit payments used to bribe foreign governments. Several headlines had shaped the U.S. government’s concern; acting as a catalyst for the development and establishment of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. This Act, even to this day, is recognized for its purpose of prohibiting the practice of corrupt actions associated with the U.S. While widely recognized in the American business market, due to its impact nationally as well as internationally, its “real” significance in U.S. commerce has been criticized. As those

The legal aspect of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of 1977 is very critical, which is a U.S. Federal Law that prohibits any U.S. citizen from bribing a foreign official for the purpose of obtaining improper advantages to secure or retain a business. (Legal, I. U. (n.d.). The Foreign Corrupt Practice Act (FCPA) applies to all organizations that are recorded on any stock trade or operating a business in the United States. Cultural differences of business practices are a major