The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

During and after the Securities and Exchange Commission investigation in the1970s, more than 400 US companies admitted to illegal or ..... payments in excess of US$200 million to foreign political parties, politicians and officials.

These payments ran the gamut from 'facilitating' payments to ensure government officials ..... certain duties to bribery to secure some favorable action by foreign governments.

The US Congress enacted the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in order to ..... a halt to bribing foreign functionaries and restore public confidence in the honesty of the US system of business.

A number of companies that bribed foreign officials received large fines, along with suspension and ..... from US government procurement contracting, while some employees and executives went to prison.

After passage of the Act, Congress was worried that US firms were now at a disadvantage to foreign firms, who ..... used bribery and were actually permitted in some countries to use the cost of such payments as business expense deductions on their tax returns.

From 1999, the anti-bribery provisions of the Act have also applied to foreign individuals and companies who take any action in ..... of such corrupt payments while in the USA.

The Act's accounting provisions, designed to operate in ..... with its anti-bribery provisions, require companies to keep records that accurately reflect their transactions and to maintain adequate internal controls.

Regarding the basic prohibition against bribery, several elements must be met in order for the act to ..... a violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Persons and corporations can also be penalized if they authorize, order or assist anyone else to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA or if they ..... to violate them.

It is illegal to pay a third party while knowing that some or all of that payment will go directly or indirectly to a foreign official: the Act forbids corrupt payment through ......