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FCPA Pros & Cons; Who Is It Really Protecting?

Asked on Feb. 24, 2015

fcpa pros and consAccording to an article in CFO (Page 8, Sept 2014), the DOJ has initialized 13 investigations, the SEC 2 actions. While the difference in numbers has to do with investigating individuals vs companies, the question begs to be asked: If the only way to compete successfully in a foreign land where bribery and corruption is a way of life is to bribe, why do we tell our businesses they can't compete? Isn't this a global economy, and if we are the only country that is tying the hands of its tax payers to make profits (and pay to our government those tax dollars) aren't we being high and mighty as well as hurting the bottom line. Let's face it, our governments (be they local, state or federal) sure know how to tax the populace with some interesting and oft times mislabeled taxes (red light cameras, building codes, etc.).

Answers

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Anonymous User CFO • November 14, 2014

Politics. Pure and simple.

I once worked for a DJIA multi-national retailer headquartered in NY. They had global operations. They operated in many third world countries and engaged in what we would consider corrupt practices to do so. Up to and including providing armies of civil unrest with token pieces of equipment in a quid pro quo "agreement" where the guerillas did not attack the plants of the corporation in that country.

i.e. when a plant needed three new trucks, the company would procure four and leave one outside the plant gate for the insurgents to conscript at night.

They were pretty open about this too. Their stance was that they were a true, multi-national organization and beholden to no government. They were just following the rules - or lack thereof - of the country they were operating in. They saw it as the U.S. rules couldn't be applied to their Columbian or Kenyan operations for instance.

This is not new behavior by the way.

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/gm.html

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