Law Commons^™

Incentivizing Corporate America To Eradicate Transnational Bribery Worldwide: Federal Transparency And Voluntary Disclosure Under The Foreign Corrupt Practice Act, Peter Reilly

Faculty Scholarship

In 1977, it was discovered that hundreds of U.S. companies had spent hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to improve business overseas. In response, Congress passed the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), thereby making it illegal to bribe foreign officials to obtain a business advantage. A major tension has emerged between the federal agencies charged with enforcing the FCPA (i.e., the DOJ and SEC), and the corporate entities trying to stay within the legal and regulatory bounds of the statute. Specifically, while the government appears to be trying to maximize discretion and flexibility in carrying out its enforcement duties, …