Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Essay

Many companies be essaying to expand economically in the market by doing phone line with an individual or another company in foreign countries. These vocationes be engaging in into using haywire modes of payments that ar leading to secret bribes to the foreign overt officials. outside countries are not always in accordance with the laws and they tend not to follow them. Having these problems with the US and all the millions of dollars that make up 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 grease ones palms Practices bout to prosecute foreign companies for corrupt payments within the united States. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is a federal law that was amended in 1977. This law prohibits the united States from bribing foreign officials to secure advantageous contracts(1). A foreign official is de delightfuld as any military officer or employee of the forei gn government or any department, agency, public international organization, or any someone acting in an official for or behalf any such government or department, agency, or public international organization (2).The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act was implemented for companies from the United States that are managing business in foreign countries to do so without any unethical business practices (3). This federal law exists of two preps, the anti-bribery and the score/book and record provision. The first provision consists of the anti-bribery provision in which contracts with enforcing the Department of Justice. The DOJ is one of the enforcements for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in which prosecutes the issuers and their officers, employees, agents, and internal concern all in which are acting in the US (4).The anti-bribery of FCPA prohibits anything that deals with payments or an authorization of any payment that obtains or retains with business. There are three faces of improper trespasss for the anti-bribery provision and they include the issuer, domestic concern, the foreign national and businesses. The issuers are the ones that are registe crimson in the US or are required to file Security and Exchange Commission. Domestic concern is any person or business that have their place of business in the US or are low the US law.Lastly, the foreign nationals and business in which deals with corrupt payments that are made in the United States (3). There are too the Third parties and agents that are as well included and have the same conditions apply to them as they do to the issuer, domestic concern, and the foreign national and businesses. The second provision that is involved with the FCPA is the Accounting provision and that consist of contracts enforcing Securities and Exchange Commission.The SEC enforces the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by bringing the civil actions against the issuers and their officers, directors, employees, and agents (4). FCPA has two business relationship requirements that are recordkeeping and internal controls. The recordkeeping is there to ensure that the books, records, and accounts are held at the standards of what the company should be at. This is designed to assure business transactions and score control and maintain accuracy with the corporations and their records so that they are limited in violating the FCPA anti-bribery provisions.The other requirement is the internal control and that deals with the assurance of transactions are in accordance with the concern authorization, the transactions are recorded and prepared for financial statements and are maintained accountability for as cut backs, the access is yet limited to the managements authorization, and the record accountability for the assets is compared with the existing assets at the regular intervals (4).There are certain(a) things that gives the FCPA red flags and they consist of a history of corruption in the country, a ny family relationship between participants and government officials, an unknown pattern in financial arrangements, high commissions, decrease in transparency in expenses and accounting records, neediness of qualifications on the agents part for performing services, and misrepresentation in connection with a proposed transaction (8). Each of these jurisdictions flora together to keep aspects of FCPA from being violated. This law is not always prohibiting all payments to the foreign officials.The FCPA has an exception for anti-bribery prohibitions and that is called bend government action. This exception is also given the names facilitating or grease payment. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act de first-rates this routine government action as for a foreign official to perform in obtaining permits, licenses, or other official documents that enable then to do business in that country, processing government papers such as visa and work orders, protection services and conducting in spections, and anything that has similar nature (6).The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) has two affirmative defenses and they consist of assertion that payment in question was lawful under the laws of the foreign country, and the assertion that the payment was valued a bona fide expenditure (6). This affirmative defense is aimed to be for the issuer, domestic concern, or other person. In this affirmative defense there must be some type of written law authorizing or supporting the payment. The penalties for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act are different from the provision that they fall under.For an individual and it is from the anti bribery provision that penalty for civil can be up to $10,000, the criminal fine is up to $250,000 or imprisonment for up to five years, the o.k.s Act can also increase twice the gross financial gain or loss from the corrupt payment, and the criminal fine for the individual cannot be paid directly or indirectly from the company whose be half the person acted on. The entities a penalty for the anti-bribery provision consist of civil up to $10,000, for criminal fine up to 2 million, and for the Alternative Fine Act is can also increase twice the gain or lose from the corrupt payment.Penalties for the accounting provisions for an individual are civil penalty up to $100,000, criminal fine up to $5 million or tice the gain or loss caused by the violation or imprisonment for up to twenty years. The last penalty is for entities in the accounting provisions for civil up to $5000,000, criminal fine up to $25 million or twice the gain or loss caused by the violation (5). Statute of limitation and penalties violations is worth to be a five-year for both the criminal and the civil.As for the criminal it takes shanghai when the statute runs from the date the potential offense was committed (7). This can also be suspended for up to three years due to court rules and evidence of an offense in a foreign country (7). In my perspec tive on FCPA I feel that they have had an impact on the US Commerce. This is so due to the fact of how well they have been enforcing their actions with also the actions for the individuals as well. This also has an affect on the personify of companies that are subject to the Act.Such things as programs for compliance and conducting internal investigations, the cost of diligence, the subtle cost the companies are having to overcome due to the burdens of their competitors that they dont have to deal with, and the opportunity for businesses overseas. This law gives the companies a way of economic benefits. When it comes to the international level FCPA can be a disadvantage because it keeps the company from engaging certain businesses that could give an advantage to the other company.Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has given the international something similar to the FCPA, and that is called the Anti-Bribery meeting (OECD). This convention is against bribery in international transaction s in todays international business environment. The OECD Convention contains an agreement or books and records provision that prohibits the off the books accounts and making inadequate transactions. This also has legal help for extradition on bribery offenses.Since other countries have seen the affects that this law has had on companies they to have also tried to ingrain their own legislation and enforcement actions. One of them would be the Bribery Act from the United Kingdom. This act is similar to the FCPA and with the anti-bribery ordinance (9). The difference between the two is that the Bribery Act does not show enough affirmative defenses and the FCPA allows facilitating payments in which gives more of a open interpretation (9).The FCPA has a come up with general guidance of the compliance program to try to design and implement a reduction in the violations of the bribery laws. They want the business to implement this so that they can operate effectively and promote value in their organization. This law is set to progress and enforce the businesses to make the right choice and to try to stay away from foreign countries that try to make bribery choices. Over the years FCPA testament eventually keep growing into other countries and it will make it harder for the violations to occur.