December 2nd, 2010
Everyone knows money is a powerful dissuader.
Think of parking tickets. If there were no penalty, most people would be unlikely to feed the machine with a few
A variety of activities ranging from smoking to carrying durians is banned on Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit system.
quarters. But it’s a small price to pay when the ticket fine is $30 (or $50 if you live in DC).
Any Economist will tell you that, by design, compliance with laws is a mix of two important factors. One: the penalty that results if the offender is caught and 2: the probability...
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October 21st, 2010
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...
July 29th, 2010
On Sunday,
US Attorney General Eric Holder delivered a promissory gem to the leaders gathered in Uganda, the pearl of Africa. It was not a pledge of more foreign aid for the continent – which has
tripled since 2000 – but it could bring billions of dollars to Africa:
“ I’m pleased to announce that the U.S. Department of Justice is launching a new Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative aimed at combating large-scale foreign official corruption and recovering public funds for their intended – and proper – use:...
July 28th, 2010
On Sunday U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder
announced the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative at the African Union Summit in Uganda. The new policy aims to take on public bribes by recovering public money and returning it to its intended use. While the Obama administration has, so far, shown a greater propensity to tackle the thorny problem of foreign bribery than his recent predecessors, the new policy does not exist in a historical vacuum. In fact, the U.S. has had one of the world’s longest and strongest histories of action against foreign bribery. This is...
