Foreign Corrupt Practices

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

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

Financials have revealed that oversea companies receive government procurement contracts worth billions of dollars along with their tax breaks. Not only are these businesses getting cuts on their finances they get financial aid to help them. This money comes from American taxpayers, and it goes towards a business that does not provide any help towards the country that is assisting it (Aflcio). The jobs that they do offer are located halfway around the world; this does no good for the hard-working American. “These taxpayer-financed benefits usually come with very few strings attached; allowing companies to skim additional profits by performing publicly funded work overseas (Aflcio).” I believe that, in this day and age, companies are always trying to take advantage of the government and find loop hole. Laws concerning the distribution of government procurement should be reformed to not encourage the shipping of jobs overseas, but to promote the growth of a business in America with the assistance of government procurements paid for by the taxpayers who live in the country.

The CIA is recognized as an intelligence-driven and threat-focused national security organization that works with confidential fiscal and administrative procedures, although have fallen through loop holes and broken some rules and regualtions. The case of CIA v. Wesley Swearingen will aid in conducting towards proving that the CIA is corrupt. Wesley Swearingen, an ex-FBI agent from 1951 until he retired in 1977 perpetrated and witnessed numerous violations of law by FBI and CIA agents and their operatives, heard revealing statements by other agents about their illegal activities, and read files that had documented violations of the rights of American citizens. Swearingen states that “activities of FBI agents and their ‘informers’ included warrantless

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,

Bribery weakens competition and diminishes free trade which can affect companies, shareholders, and stakeholders. Jacob Franklin knowingly extended bribes to governments and contractors while knowing it was against company policy. Jacob engaged in bribery even though he knew it was wrong because he was advised that it was common practice at Richard Drilling. “In 1977, President Carter signed the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The law made it illegal to bribe foreign officials. The maximum punishments for violators were set at $100,000 and 5 years in jail. Companies can be fined millions” (Bredeson, 2012, p.301). Not only was extending the bribe against company policy, it was against law and could cost Jacob and Richardson Drilling money and freedom.

Because the federal government’s myriad agencies are headquartered in Washington, D.C., the rules of personal jurisdiction render the D.C. Circuit a forum for many anti-fraud suits against government contractors. For instance, under the False Claims Acct (FCA), a suit may be filed in any United States judicial district in which at least one of the named defendants to the suit “can be found, resides, transacts business,” or has made false claims to the government as proscribed in the FCA. Any corporate defendant headquartered Washington, D.C. is therefore within the personal jurisdiction of

These provisions apply to everyone in the United States and issuers of security. More recently, they also apply to foreign firms and who want or plan to have a corrupt payment take place upon U.S. grounds.

5. Discuss whether the payments outlined on pages 12 and 13 are foreign corrupt practices.

from 2003 to 2013 made 81 improper payments through commissions to employees of foreign governments or their third-parties. These payments totaled over $9 million, and resulted in more than $34 million in profits. These commissions were approved by senior management at Celcat or Condel, but the real purpose of the payments were concealed from GCC’s executive management.

"These economic hitmen would never be paid by the government; instead, they would draw their salaries from the private sector. As a result, their dirty work, if exposed, would be chalked up to corporate greed rather than to government policy. In addition, the corporations that hired them, although paid by government agencies and their multinational banking counterparts (with taxpayer money), would be insulated from congressional oversight and public scrutiny, shielded by a growing body of legal initiatives, including trademark, international trade, and Freedom of Information

Explain the particulars of the corruption case you have chosen (place, date, a concise overview of case/example).

The “grease exception” also known routine government payments exception or facilitation payments created by Congress as an exception or defense under the FCPA to allow permissible non-discretionary payments to be made by US businesses to help increase competition with foreign competitors. “Grease” payments are small payments made to foreign officials to ensure faster performance of a routine action such as setting up electrical or phone service, delivering mail, processing paperwork or other administrative process and “such payments are so common that preventing US companies from paying them would effectively bar these companies from doing business”1,2.

1. Describe the economic and social impact of bribes and other similar payments in emerging economics.

Here is my report on “Foreign Exchange policy of EXIM BANK Limited : A Critical Evaluation ” submitted to your honor. A methodological research was conducted to prepare the report for fulfillment of the requirement of Internship Program, an integral part to the academic curriculum for MBA. This report has been prepared on the basis of the findings out of the research work with practical knowledge, which includes collection of