Foreign Corrupt Policies Act

Foreign Corrupt Policies Act

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and its Effects on U.S. Business

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of 1977 was a ground-breaking step that the U.S. government took in order to deal with the increasing awareness of the amount of inappropriate payments that were taking place overseas. If truth be told, it wasn't that the American companies were exclusively practicing such offensive acts. However, America was the first country that tried and outlined its international interest (Harris, 2011). The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act makes "any act done in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay, or authorization of the payment of any money, or offer, gift, promise to give, or authorization of the giving of anything of value" illegal (Dorman & Martin, 2007).

Many critics inspect the FCPA in an unorthodox manner by considering it an interruption to the performance of American businesses running abroad. On the other hand, many consider that the FCPA formed an irregular playing field for the businesses in America and that foreign opponents determinedly looked for taking advantage of this fact (Harris, 2011). The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act also strengthened codes of conduct of the corporate sector. In addition, it also built up and fortified the systems of internal accounting controls. On the other hand, a number of corporations consider that the charges of acting in accordance with FCPA go beyond the consequential benefits. Over thirty percent of the companies connected with the business abroad informed about their overseas business loss in consequence of the Act. Furthermore, the FCPA's accounting provisions were not clear that dissatisfied the engaged businesses extensively. The anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act are also heavily criticized as being uncertain and confusing. On top, a number of businesses consider it as true that they have suffered and are undergoing a competitive disadvantage that is attributable to the lack of a worldwide anti-bribery agreement ("Impact of Foreign," 1981).

Thus, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has greatly influenced the way the companies in United States carried out their businesses, not only on a domestic level but on an international level as well. It did so by "subjecting numerous companies that violated the FCPA's provisions to criminal and civil enforcement actions, resulting in large fines and suspension and debarment from federal procurement contracting" (Dorman & Martin, 2007). In addition to this, a good number of recruits and officials of U.S. companies have spent time in prisons for violating the rules and regulations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Many companies in the United States have put detailed FCPA compliance programs in practice so that they can train, avoid and become aware of inappropriate payments by human resources and representatives and ultimately avoid such harsh penalties (Dorman & Martin, 2007).