????或許沃爾瑪（Wal-Mart）應(yīng)該用“法不責(zé)眾”來為自己辯護(hù),。
????零售業(yè)巨頭沃爾瑪被指控為了快速獲得開店許可，經(jīng)常對墨西哥官員行賄,。然而,，過去幾年，被指控涉嫌商業(yè)賄賂的美國公司,，不止沃爾瑪一家,。本周三,，又有兩家公司爆出行賄丑聞。美國證券交易委員會（The Securities and Exchange Commission,，SEC）指控摩根士丹利（Morgan Stanley）前高管蓋斯?彼得森為了替公司招攬業(yè)務(wù),，向一家中國國有企業(yè)的官員行賄。同一天,，傳媒業(yè)巨頭新聞集團(tuán)（News Corp.）承認(rèn),，受到電話竊聽丑聞的影響，目前美國政府正在對該公司進(jìn)行賄賂調(diào)查,。
????目前,，至少有81家上市公司因涉嫌違反《反海外腐敗法》（Foreign Corrupt Practices Act，F(xiàn)CPA）,，正在接受美國證券交易委員會或司法部的調(diào)查,。美國《反海外腐敗法》規(guī)定，在其他國家行賄將在美國受到處罰,。此外,，越來越多的公司開始在財(cái)務(wù)文件中披露，雖然公司盡了最大努力阻止行賄行為,，但仍可能存在員工違反美國反海外商業(yè)賄賂法規(guī)的情況,。
????如果沒有美國法律的限制，有些公司也許會對行賄的做法舉雙手贊成,。比如,，紐約長島一家工業(yè)防護(hù)服制造商雷克蘭工業(yè)公司（Lakeland Industries）近期表示，由于公司遵守美國法律,，沒有像其他競爭對手一樣行賄,，結(jié)果導(dǎo)致公司銷量下降。當(dāng)然,，迫使公司有意申報(bào)比實(shí)際更低的利潤,，會計(jì)法的存在也是原因之一。
????目前,，因涉嫌行賄而成為美國政府調(diào)查對象的公司包括惠普公司（Hewlett-Packard）,、電信公司高通（Qualcomm）、農(nóng)業(yè)設(shè)備制造商美國迪爾公司（Deere & Co.）,、化妝品公司雅芳（Avon）,、博彩公司拉斯維加斯金莎集團(tuán)（Las Vegas Sands），以及共和黨捐款大戶查爾斯?科赫與大衛(wèi)?科赫旗下的德州科氏工業(yè)集團(tuán)（Koch Industries）,。此外,，美國證監(jiān)會正在調(diào)查，美國電影制作公司是否通過賄賂手段打入中國娛樂市場,。據(jù)稱美國證監(jiān)會的調(diào)查對象分別是：新聞集團(tuán)旗下的二十世紀(jì)?？怂构荆?0th Century Fox）,、迪斯尼（Disney）和夢工廠動畫公司（DreamWorks Animation）。而美國司法部曾表示,，去年其根據(jù)《反海外腐敗法》立案150起,，調(diào)查涉及的對象既有個(gè)人，也有公司,。 |
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????Perhaps Wal-Mart (WMT) should try the "everyone does it" defense.
????The giant retailer, which is accused of regularly bribing Mexican officials in order to quickly obtain permits to open stores, is far from the only U.S. company that has been caught greasing the wheels of commerce in the past few years. Two more examples of that came on Wednesday. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged a former Morgan Stanley executive Garth Peterson with bribing an official of a state-owned Chinese company in order to win business for the investment firm. Also on Wednesday, media conglomerate News Corp. confirmed that it too was the subject of a U.S. bribery investigation, more fall-out from its phone hacking scandal.
????There are at least 81 public companies under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Department of Justice for running afoul of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which makes bribery in foreign countries punishable in the U.S. In addition, a growing number of companies have started placing disclosures in their financial documents that say their employees may at times violate the U.S.'s overseas bribery law, despite the company's best efforts to prevent it.
????Other companies seem to be all for bribes were it not for U.S. laws prohibiting them. For example, Lakeland Industries (LAKE), a Long Island, New York, manufacturer of industrial safety garments, recently said its inability to pay bribes, due to the fact that it, unlike its competitors, follows U.S. laws, has lowered the company's sales. Undoubtedly, accounting laws are also forcing the company to report lower profits than it would like as well.
????Among the companies already in the cross-hairs of the U.S. government for committing bribery are Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), telecommunications company Qualcomm (QCOM), farm equipment maker Deere & Co. (DE), cosmetic company Avon (AVP), casino company Las Vegas Sands (LVS) and Koch Industries, the Texas conglomerate run by prominent Republican donors Charles and David Koch. On top of that, the SEC has also recently launched an inquiry into whether U.S. movies studios have been using bribes to break into the Chinese entertainment market. News Corp's 20th Century Fox, Disney and DreamWorks Animation have all reportedly been contacted by the SEC. For its part, the Department of Justice last year said that it had 150 open investigations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Some of those might be against individuals as well as companies. |
