THE BRIBERY LAW RACKET. (cover story)

UNITED States. Dept. of Justice; SIEMENS AG; HALLIBURTON Co.; BAE Systems PLC

This article is focused on bribery committed by American corporations operating in foreign countries. Beginning in 2001, the U.S. Justice Department began increasing its enforcement of the anti-bribery legislation the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), enacted in 1977, handling 150 FCPA cases in 2010 as compared to zero in 2000. It is suggested that FCPA work does little to resolve corporate bribery, but does much to profit the lawyers and accountants hired by corporations to handle the cases. Corporations involved in high-profile FCPA cases are noted to include the engineering company Siemens, the oil and gas company Halliburton, and the defense company Bae Systems. INSETS: THE ANTI-BRIBERY COMPLEX;CAUGHT IN THE CORRUPTION NET;THE NEXT TARGETS.