Latest Walmart Bribery News, TSA Shocker, Geithner On Financial Reform And More

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Loophole In Bribery Law Leads To Confusion, Abuse

A loophole in a U.S. anti-bribery law, the same law that Walmart's Mexico subsidiary reportedly violated again and again, actually allows companies to offer bribes.

Under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, bribing foreign officials to win business is illegal, but the law makes an exception for what are known as "facilitating payments" -- essentially, small-dollar bribes to low-level functionaries to speed visa processing, for example, or to secure police protection. While this exception does not permit the type of widespread, systematic bribery in which Walmart allegedly engaged, according to a blockbuster report in The New York Times, lawyers say it is ripe for misinterpretation and even abuse.

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