U.S. Anticorruption Laws Reach Everywhere

SINGAPORE–LAWFUEL – The Law Newswire – August 2, 2007 – Companies located anywhere in the world whose shares are traded on a U.S. stock exchange are subject to the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The FCPA, as it is known, makes it illegal to bribe foreign public officials in order to obtain or retain business or gain any unfair advantage.

“Most business people are shocked by the reach of the FCPA,” said Richard L. Cassin, an American lawyer with the Singapore-based international law firm, Cassin Law LLC. “The FCPA even criminalizes behavior between two non-U.S. persons who are acting entirely outside the borders of the United States. That’s unusual and alarming by any standard.”

For example, explains Cassin, the FCPA applies directly to more than 440 non-U.S. companies whose shares are registered on either the New York Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ. Another 600 or so have shares registered on the OTC and may be subject to the FCPA.

An FCPA offense can inflict permanent reputational damage and lead to fines of tens of millions of dollars. Shareholders, directors, officers, employees and agents who violate the FCPA face up to five years in prison.

View the News Release Here.