The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Of 1977

The FPCA was enacted to make it illegal for certain classes of people and entities to make payments to foreign government officials to help assists businesses (The United States Department of Justice, 2015). Many U.S. companies were caught by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) bribing foreign officials to keep businesses with them (McGraw & Rufe, 2014). It was something that was inexcusable and the U.S. government wanted to keep it from happening again, so they signed in this Act.

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.

While reading this case analysis, The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act came into discussion as an underlying factor in Weihardt’s decision. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act was enacted for the purpose of making it unlawful for certain classes of persons and entities to make payments to foreign government officials to assist in obtaining or retaining business. This practice applies to Weinhardt in the fact that he was given the opportunity to give Lee a bribe to obtain Lees’ business.

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).

The impact the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act had on society was pleasant since it restored buyer confidence in the United States and restored the integrity of the United States market by implementing honesty in transactions. Yet it imposed too many disadvantages for the economy and corporations. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act focuses on large fraudulent payments made by a business, therefore anyone involved in the financial, accounting, and executive department are impacted the most. Other major stakeholders affected include the board of directors, shareholders, employees, government officials involved, and foreign officials or foreign companies involved. Everyone is affected because the codes of conduct, and the companies’ values needed

The foreign Corrupt Practices Act prohibits paying or offering anything of value to foreign officials for the purpose of obtaining or keeping a business. The FCPA was enacted by congress in 1977 due to various reports that were made by the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) reported different issues concerning bribery and illegal payments by United Sates companies. The FCPA states that it’s unlawful to make payments to foreign officials; having a corrupt intend that will make a foreign official to misuse his or her position in directing a business. The FCPA intends to reinstitute public confidence in the integrity of the American business system.

The FCPA explicitly state that it is illegal for foreign business entities and individuals to engage in unlawful practices that include, making payments to foreign officials in an effort to attaining or retaining business (DOJ.gov, 2016). This is the United States law and holds true for Chinese government healthcare officials who worked under the reformed Healthcare system.

Before 1998 any foreign enterprise or foreigner was not limited by FCPA except foreign enterprise issuers. But the amendment of FCPA in 1998 greatly extended the jurisdiction of U.S government. If any independent foreign enterprise or individual directly or through agent had bribery on foreign officials in U.S they would violate the regulations of FCPA. Except that all the issuers above mentioned, domestic enterprise or employee in foreign enterprises, senior staff, directors, shareholders and agent were restrained by the law. The ministry of justice was authorized to convict the employee of enterprise according to regulations of FCPA whether the enterprise was guilty or not.

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

This essay requires that I identify the main provisions of the the Foreign Corrupt Policy Act (FCPA) and then set forth the manner in which American businesses can comply with this act so as to compete with foreign businesses. The FCPA was enacted in 1977 during the term of President Jimmy Carter and is codified at 15 U.S.C. Sections 78-dd-1 et. seq..

The United States Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission rarely enforced the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, enacted in 1977, until 2010— over a decade since its modern reform in 1998. This surge in penalization of unethical acts such as bribery and other methods used to ensure foreign business ventures has been called a “new era of FCPA enforcement” by the DOJ, resulting in $1.8 billion in payments accrued from domestic firms and their foreign partners, compared to $300,000 in 2000 (Kohler). Because of ambiguity within the legislation, especially the undefined terms “foreign official” and “obtain or retain business,” the U.S. government is able to manipulate the FCPA for monetary gain, as well as shape foreign economies based upon their own values.

The US Foreign Corrupt Practice Act (FCPA) of 1977 is the anti-corruption law. It was the first law that introduce corporate liability which is responsible for the third parties and extraterritoriality for corruption offences, which cause companies and persons can be held criminally and civilly responsible for corruption offences committed aboard. 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

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is second in discussion which, applies to all companies operating out of the United States. The standard of way to conduct business here in the United States and Japan are to be acknowledged because of the cultural differences. The law requires U.S. organizations to represent and report global exchanges precisely and demoralize the activities of officials that attempt accept any kind of pay off, or monetary motivators in return for opportune and favorable business decisions. While in Japanese business, culturally it might be seen as sign of good gesture to offer government officials financial gains in order to get business advantages, unlike in the United States where it is illegal to do so. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977- is a U.S. Federal Law that

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, (FCPA), was enacted in 1977 and prohibits U.S. businesspersons from bribing foreign officials in exchange of favorable business contracts, obtaining or retaining business. (Miller, Hollowell, 2014, pg. 24).