News and commentary about white-collar crime, enforcement, and compliance
Harry Cassin
Publisher and Editor
Andy Spalding
Senior Editor
Jessica Tillipman
Senior Editor
Bill Steinman
Senior Editor
Richard L. Cassin
Editor at Large
Elizabeth K. Spahn
Editor Emeritus
Cody Worthington
Contributing Editor
Julie DiMauro
Contributing Editor
Thomas Fox
Contributing Editor
Marc Alain Bohn
Contributing Editor
Bill Waite
Contributing Editor
Russell A. Stamets
Contributing Editor
Richard Bistrong
Contributing Editor
Eric Carlson
Contributing Editor
Does the Internet have a role to play in the battle against graft? It’s still early, but the signs are promising.
For public corruption to flourish, a couple of ingredients are necessary — red tape and opaque decision-making.… Continue Reading
Former Congressman William J. Jefferson says the cash found in his freezer four years ago proves he didn’t violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Yesterday Jefferson filed a petition for certiorari to the Supreme Court, asking for review of the Fourth Circuit’s refusal to dismiss most of the corruption-related charges against him.… Continue Reading
Public corruption doesn’t happen in public. It needs dark places to flourish. That’s why the press can play a decisive role in fighting sleaze–just by shining light on it. So the announcement this week by the Chicago Tribune that it’s going all out to fight graft is welcome news.… Continue Reading
One of ProPublica’s outstanding investigative reporters, T. Christian Miller, wrote the story below (which ProPublica co-published with MSN Money). We reprint it under ProPublica’s generous license (“You can republish our articles for free, if you credit us, link to us, and don’t edit our material or sell it separately.”)… Continue Reading
Review Procedure Release No. 81-02 from December 11, 1981 may be a Cold War relic, but it’s still relevant to the FCPA. It answers the question: How do you introduce new products to potential government customers in foreign countries without violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act?… Continue Reading
One benefit of “globalization” — a word we think means the integration of national economies into the global financial system — is that corrupt regimes now come in for heavy international flak.… Continue Reading
The biggest public corruption story on the planet may be Russia — the entire country, where red tape and bribery are scaring away foreign investors and wearing down ordinary citizens. Reform can’t come soon enough, so we’re glad that President Dmitry Medvedev is at least talking about the problem.… Continue Reading
Russia’s English-language Moscow Times carries a provocative page-one story today (here) by Anders Aslund titled, “There Is Nothing Normal About Corruption.” Author Aslund is a senior fellow at Washington, D.C.’s… Continue Reading
The Big Show these days for followers of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is Siemens’ global bribery scandal. To wit, the print and online versions of the November 16, 2007 Wall Street Journal carried a brilliantly reported Page One story based on the fact statement compiled by the Munich public prosecutor (“Ruling Details Bribery Across the Globe”).… Continue Reading
€1.3 Billion In Questionable Payments Have Been Found; Investigations Involve Multiple Divisions and Countries; Oil-For-Food Program Is Also Involved
Siemens AG’s November 8, 2007 earnings release for Fiscal Year 2007 and a separate document called “Legal Proceedings” disclosed the most comprehensive information yet about corruption prosecutions and ongoing investigations involving the German industrial conglomerate.… Continue Reading
It requires 54 procedures, takes 704 days, and costs 3,788% of annual per capita income to obtain the licenses and permits needed to build a warehouse in Moscow. So says the World Bank’s Doing Business 2008.… Continue Reading