The CSR Newsletters are a freely-available resource generated as a dynamic complement to the textbook, Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation.

To sign-up to receive the CSR Newsletters regularly during the fall and spring academic semesters, e-mail author David Chandler at david.chandler@ucdenver.edu.

Friday, September 9, 2011

Strategic CSR - FCPA

This article caught my eye, if for no other reason than it is surprising.

The article reports a conviction of three employees from Lindsey Manufacturing Co. under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for paying bribes in Mexico. The surprising thing is that this is “the first time a company has been convicted at a U.S. trial in a foreign bribery case.

Specifically:

[The] conviction marks the first time a company has been convicted at trial for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bans the bribery of foreign officials for business purposes. In the law's 34-year history, companies had always pleaded guilty or signed non- or deferred-prosecution agreements with the Justice Department.

This case reinforces a trend in recent years (starting with the Bush administration) of a more aggressive enforcement of the FCPA by the Justice Department (see Newsletters: January 26, 2011, November 23, 2009, and September 16, 2009), which has resulted in a significantly larger number of investigations being initiated and now, apparently, in the first ever successful prosecution.

Have a good weekend.
David