Compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act October 12th, 2009

The original Foreign Corrupt Practices Act was conceived in 1977 and later revised in the middle of 1988. This is an act that addresses the acts of bribery, by or of, the government officials in all countries. This has led to greater diligence and watch over record keeping and the accounting practices of corporations and financial institutions the world over. The FCPA applies to all the citizens of the United States. And although the policies and procedures surrounding compliance to the Act seem extensive, it a relatively simple document and set of laws to understand.

The scope of the Foreign Corrupt Practices act is very clear. And due to the fact that the FCPA is so specialized, dealing only with cases of bribery, has given the law enforcement agencies overseeing the act the opportunity to focus on an issue that is destructive to the interactions between countries, and to the people living in those countries. The Act is so focused that it covers issues wherein bribery is related to the guarantee of business or the securing of continued business, with any given region, and the “grease payments” that are made to speed up the process of paperwork and approval. The Act is so clear in the intention that to violate it without knowing, or to do so inadvertently, is no defense when called upon to defend oneself or one’s company in an investigation or in a court of law.

The Quid Pro Quo argument will not stand, and will be in violation of the terms of the FCPA. For many years this applied to oil and gas companies mainly, but now the laws and regulations apply to all businesses, large and small, foreign and domestic. One of the challenges is that a study conducted a few years ago revealed that not even half of the American companies had a compliance officer that ensured the regulations of the Act were being met. All companies are under close watch and scrutiny by the officers of the FCPA in current times, and would behove any company to assign a title of compliance officer or manager, most certainly if they conduct foreign business transactions.

Related posts:

1. A Closer Look at the US Patriot Act
2. Regulatory Compliance and the War on Corruption
3. Anti-Money Laundering and the Strive to Prevent Corporate Corruption in the U.S.
4. Teamwork: A Requirement for Property Management Companies

• Posted by Cliff
• Tagged Crime