In the wake of the Wal-Mart Mexican bribery scandal, there’s been renewed attention paid to the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). As law professor Peter Henning pointed out earlier this week in the New York Times, there have been more prosecutions recently than in the first years of the act’s life. In fact, government actions increased 85 percent between 2009 and 2010, with 74 prosecutions brought and more than $1 billion in fines collected. “Depending upon the violation,” according to the law, “a company can be fined up to $20 million, and an individual can be fined up to $5 million and spend up to 20 years in jail for each violation.”
Predictably, some “pro-business” pundits are claiming the FCPA hurts American competitiveness. I would argue that these people are not really serving the best interests of American business, not to mention the American way of life. A Huffington Post piece a couple of days ago put it this way:
See full Article.
Monday, July 16, 2012
US Anti-Corruption Laws: A Foreign Policy Triumph
In the wake of the Wal-Mart Mexican bribery scandal, there’s been renewed attention paid to the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). As law professor Peter Henning pointed out earlier this week in the New York Times, there have been more prosecutions recently than in the first years of the act’s life. In fact, government actions increased 85 percent between 2009 and 2010, with 74 prosecutions brought and more than $1 billion in fines collected. “Depending upon the violation,” according to the law, “a company can be fined up to $20 million, and an individual can be fined up to $5 million and spend up to 20 years in jail for each violation.”
Predictably, some “pro-business” pundits are claiming the FCPA hurts American competitiveness. I would argue that these people are not really serving the best interests of American business, not to mention the American way of life. A Huffington Post piece a couple of days ago put it this way:
See full Article.
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