September 30, 2009
British firm Mabey & Johnson Ltd was sentenced this week by an English court for overseas corruption and violations of the U.N.’s oil-for-food program. The bridge-building specialist will pay £6.6 million in criminal fines and related assessments. It pleaded guilty in July to bribing officials in Jamaica and Ghana to win public contracts, and paying more than £123,000 to the pre-war Iraqi regime in violation of U.N. sanctions. As part of its sentence, the privately-held company is also required to retain and pay for an SFO-approved monitor to review its internal compliance program. . . .
Read the entire post on The FCPA Blog www.fcpablog.com
September 29, 2009
The 2008 Bribe Payers Index (BPI) from Transparency International attempts to measure how much corruption the major economies export to other countries. TI hired Gallup International to survey 2,742 executives from 26 countries (at least 100 interviews per country) between 5 August and 29 October 2008. The executives came from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Senegal, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States. . . .
Read the entire post on The FCPA Blog www.fcpablog.com
September 28, 2009
Should the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act be used to punish nations that don’t behave the way the United States wants them to? Michael Jacobson from the Washington Institute thinks so. In the September 24 issue of Policy Watch, he proposes targeted enforcement of the FCPA against non-U.S. companies that do business with Iran (U.S. companies aren’t allowed there under current law). The purpose is to sanction the country and its leaders on the nuclear issue. . . .
Read the entire post on The FCPA Blog www.fcpablog.com
September 25, 2009
Evan Osnos’s latest Letter from China in the New Yorker describes what he calls the gift-imperative — the constant cultural pressure to give gifts and accept them in business and professional settings. Our most harrowing encounter with the gift-imperative happened not in China but in Southeast Asia. During the festive season one year, a small flatbed drove up to our place in Singapore, loaded with a huge gift hamper — about five feet tall and packed with pricey bottles and tins — brandy, caviar and other treats you might see in the window at Harrods. A few minutes later, however, the truck left, still carrying the hamper. . . .
Read the entire post on The FCPA Blog www.fcpablog.com
September 24, 2009
As posted yesterday on the wrageblog here, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is now available in Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Arabic. The translations come from the U.S. Department of Commerce through a project headed by Senior Counsel Kathryn Nickerson. As the wrageblog pointed out, “Although the translations are marked ‘unofficial’ we’re told they’re accurate and that they read well. This is a great service to the compliance community.” We agree. . . .
Read the entire post on The FCPA Blog www.fcpablog.com
September 23, 2009
When Suleiman A. Nassar was indicted in 1994 for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, he was a regional vice president of Lockheed International living near Geneva, Switzerland. His territory for Lockheed included Egypt, and in the late 1980s he landed a nice sale there — three C-130 military cargo planes worth $79 million. But he won the business, the Justice Department said, by bribing a member of the Egyptian parliament with a million dollars. The DOJ indicted him, along with a co-worker and Lockheed itself. . . .
Read the entire post on The FCPA Blog www.fcpablog.com
September 22, 2009
The Chinese Communist Party’s latest anti-corruption initiative will force officials to declare their assets and those of close family members. The new rules were announced at the close of the annual meeting of the party’s watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. Extending disclosure to family members, the state news agency Xinhua said, is aimed at spouses and children who have left China. . .
Read the entire post on The FCPA Blog www.fcpablog.com
September 17, 2009
The New York Times’ Adam Nossiter has written a terrific article about kleptocracy and corruption in Gabon (here). Here’s how his account begins:
LIBREVILLE, Gabon — In the airport duty-free store, the wine is upward of $400. The service at the fancy French restaurants in the chic Louis district is immaculate, and at the luxury hotel on the sea the call girls dress like fashion models. . . .
Filed under: Uncategorized — fcpablog @ 2:46 pm
The New York Times’ Adam Nossiter has written a terrific article about kleptocracy and corruption in Gabon (here). Here’s how his account begins:
LIBREVILLE, Gabon — In the airport duty-free store, the wine is upward of $400. The service at the fancy French restaurants in the chic Louis district is immaculate, and at the luxury hotel on the sea the call girls dress like fashion models. . . .
Filed under: Uncategorized — fcpablog @ 2:44 pm
The New York Times’ Adam Nossiter has written a terrific article about kleptocracy and corruption in Gabon. Here’s how his account begins:
LIBREVILLE, Gabon — In the airport duty-free store, the wine is upward of $400. The service at the fancy French restaurants in the chic Louis district is immaculate, and at the luxury hotel on the sea the call girls dress like fashion models.
