Sunday, May 01, 2011

What Does the Term "Settlements" Conjure Up?

If i mentioned the terms "Middle East" and "setllements", what would you be thinking?


Well, guess again:-

Mideast 'Kleptocracy' plan is key

Outrage at corruption is the common denominator of the upheaval sweeping the Middle East.


...It was corruption at the fruit market, where a fruit vendor set himself ablaze after being exploited by arrogant police, which sparked the revolution that ousted Tunisia’s leader. In Egypt, university graduates who couldn’t get a job without some connection to the Mubarak family occupied Tahrir Square.

Arab leaders are now scrambling to boost salaries and subsidies. But that’s unlikely to quell the outrage caused by years of pervasive corruption. Bribery has infected everything from university life (professors expect them for grades to graduate), access to government jobs and the private wealth of public officials.

As Washington tries to connect with the aspirations of people across the Middle East, helping them expose corruption is one way to do it...

...In the 30 years since Congress passed the anti-bribery law, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Justice Department’s criminal division has never been so busy...The business community has taken notice. More than half of all multinational companies are shelving partnerships with agents, distributors, consultants and joint ventures due to concerns about liability in anti-corruption regulations, according to the latest State of Anti-Corruption Compliance survey of multinationals by Dow Jones.

The Justice Department is extending its focus well beyond U.S. borders. A significant portion of its corporate inquiries have involved foreign companies or U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies. Actions against foreign companies for inadequate internal compliance programs and against U.S. companies for bribes by their foreign joint-venture partners have resulted in settlements in the hundreds of millions of dollars...
We surely need stay away of situations where we require those types of settlements.

^

No comments: