5 ms·

It doesn't matter. For US persons and companies, it's always illegal. Here's the official page: https://www.trade.gov/us-foreign-corrupt-practices-act https://

It doesn't matter. For US persons and companies, it's always illegal. Here's the official page: https://www.trade.gov/us-foreign-corrupt-practices-act https://www.trade.gov/us-foreign-corrupt-practices-act Here's the Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Corrupt_Practices_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Corrupt_Practices_Act And here's a detailed look at one particular project, a Trump project in Azerbaijan: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/13/donald-trumps-worst-deal https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/13/donald-trumps-...

mc32 5y ago
Of course the US considers it illegal. But if you’re a Bulgarian executive running the Bulgarian subsidiary of a US company, they may do things closer to local custom despite US corporate directives. You’re demanding that foreigners extirpate their foreignness while they are employees of a US company. It’s not going to happen 100%.
- ScoobleDoodle 5y ago
  By enforcing anti corruption on the parent company in the US, the parent company should in turn communicate and enforce their own anti corruption stance and policies on their foreign subsidiaries or branches. If there is no consequence for the parent company then the opposite might happen: extra money used for bribes is provided to the foreign subsidiaries with a wink; now the corruption is increasing.
  - mc32 5y ago
    You have to consider that local competitors and other foreign competitors may not have any issues with bribery, maybe they’re both from cultures where bribery is normal. Now you’re asking a local executive to paddle up river while their competitors go down river. Unless you have a somewhat leveled playing field it’ll be an uphill battle. I believe there were espionage scandals in Europe by US intelligence where US companies were given confidential info on other negotiations —this was ab attempt to level the field in the face of what the US saw as unfair competition brought on by bribery.
    - bluGill 5y ago
      Microsoft is more than big enough to not play the game. We are not talking some little company against a big one here, we are talking about a big company, if they don't pay bribes what is the country going to do, they have more to lose than Microsoft.
  - markdown 5y ago
    > By enforcing anti corruption on the parent company in the US https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/microsoft-corp/summary?id=D000000115 https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/microsoft-corp/summary?id=D... Ooops.
    - ScoobleDoodle 5y ago
      Agreed that the US Supreme Court decision on the Citizens United case was terrible and we are suffering the consequences of an an alternate indirect form of bribery as you point out. But this is head and shoulders above direct bribery which we still thankfully classify as illegal. The US has room to improve but let’s not regress just because we’re not 100% of the way there.
- wpietri 5y ago
  I don't think I'm demanding anything. But what I would like is for US businesses not to encourage or reward corruption, which harms the citizenry and diminishes the sort of strong competition that makes markets work well. I also think it's both ridiculous and insulting to suggest that corruption is some intrinsic property of Bulgarians and their "foreignness". Or anybody.

mc32 5y ago

Of course the US considers it illegal. But if you’re a Bulgarian executive running the Bulgarian subsidiary of a US company, they may do things closer to local custom despite US corporate directives. You’re demanding that foreigners extirpate their foreignness while they are employees of a US company. It’s not going to happen 100%.

ScoobleDoodle 5y ago
By enforcing anti corruption on the parent company in the US, the parent company should in turn communicate and enforce their own anti corruption stance and policies on their foreign subsidiaries or branches. If there is no consequence for the parent company then the opposite might happen: extra money used for bribes is provided to the foreign subsidiaries with a wink; now the corruption is increasing.
- mc32 5y ago
  You have to consider that local competitors and other foreign competitors may not have any issues with bribery, maybe they’re both from cultures where bribery is normal. Now you’re asking a local executive to paddle up river while their competitors go down river. Unless you have a somewhat leveled playing field it’ll be an uphill battle. I believe there were espionage scandals in Europe by US intelligence where US companies were given confidential info on other negotiations —this was ab attempt to level the field in the face of what the US saw as unfair competition brought on by bribery.
  - bluGill 5y ago
    Microsoft is more than big enough to not play the game. We are not talking some little company against a big one here, we are talking about a big company, if they don't pay bribes what is the country going to do, they have more to lose than Microsoft.
- markdown 5y ago
  > By enforcing anti corruption on the parent company in the US https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/microsoft-corp/summary?id=D000000115 https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/microsoft-corp/summary?id=D... Ooops.
  - ScoobleDoodle 5y ago
    Agreed that the US Supreme Court decision on the Citizens United case was terrible and we are suffering the consequences of an an alternate indirect form of bribery as you point out. But this is head and shoulders above direct bribery which we still thankfully classify as illegal. The US has room to improve but let’s not regress just because we’re not 100% of the way there.
wpietri 5y ago
I don't think I'm demanding anything. But what I would like is for US businesses not to encourage or reward corruption, which harms the citizenry and diminishes the sort of strong competition that makes markets work well. I also think it's both ridiculous and insulting to suggest that corruption is some intrinsic property of Bulgarians and their "foreignness". Or anybody.