Foreign bribe prosecutions increase: who pays foreign bribes and where?

Department of Justice and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission prosecutions for foreign bribes under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) have increased significantly each year for the past five years. In addition, the new whistleblower provision under the Dodd Frank act now allows individuals with unique and previously undisclosed information to obtain a percentage of what the government recovers in these cases. This law also places foreign corporations and individuals under the umbrella of the SEC scrutiny if they are traded on a U.S. stock exchange. Because in certain nations, bribes are a way of life in doing businesses there, more and more whistleblowers are coming forward to report massive bribes to foreign officials or their agents by U.S. corporations. Who are these companies and where are the bribes being made? A recent study by Transparency International called Bribe Payers Index reveals some of the answers. In addition, the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative of the World Bank also publishes summaries of major prosecutions. What is known: Here are the top nations for payment of bribes:

  1. Russia
  2. China
  3. Mexico
  4. Indonesia
  5. United Arab Emirates
  6. Argentina
  7. Saudi Arabia
  8. Turkey
  9. India
  10. Taiwan
  11. South Africa
  12. Malaysia
  13. Italy.

Here are the top business sectors paying the bribes:

  1. Public works contracts and construction
  2. Utilities
  3. Real Estate and business services
  4. Oil and gas
  5. Mining
  6. Power generation and transmission
  7. Pharmaceutical and healthcare

Jeffrey Newman represents whistleblowers.