Financial Transparency Coalition

Hewlett-Packard, the titanic computer-making company which has been caught up in several recent PR scandals (bribery included), was sued yesterday by their own shareholders for breaking federal anti-corruption laws. Bloomberg reports:

From 2007 to 2009, HP violated the federal anti-kickback law by paying government vendors “influencer fees” to win contracts to design information technology systems, according to the complaint filed in federal court in San Jose, California. The company is also under investigation for possible violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Current and former directors at HP “consciously condoned...

According to this article, Luxembourgian Finance Minister Luc Frieden has indicated to the European Union's Council of Finance Ministers (EcoFin) that the Grand Duchy is no longer opposed to automatic information exchange through the EU's savings tax directive (STD). If this is the case, we have cause for celebration, though we still don't know whether Austria will also fall into line and cooperate. The EU's STD is currently under review. The review process is considering broadening the directive's scope to include a wider range of incomes (it currently...

Swiss regulators will keep an eye on banks and insurers to ensure they are complying with laws and regulations abroad, with the management of risks from cross-border business a part of their regular supervision.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently evaluated the United States on its effectiveness in implementing the goals and standards outlined by the Anti-Bribery Convention. The sizeable OECD report overall applauds the U.S. for its current efforts and offers a few areas for improvement. First, some background. The U.S. foreign anti-bribery laws are outlined by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which Jimmy Carter signed into law on December 19, 1977. The FCPA makes it unlawful for persons and entities to “make payments to foreign government officials to assist in obtaining or retaining...