Anti-Bribery Report: Prosecutions Are on the Rise - Compliance Week
Stringent anti-bribery laws around the globe are translating into more companies facing an increasing number of prosecutions, according to a new report from Transparency International (TI).
Every year TI monitors global compliance with the OECD's benchmark anti-bribery Convention. Its latest report, “Exporting Corruption? Country Enforcement of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention. Progress Report 2012,” shows that bribery charges increasingly lead to fines, jail time, and reputational damage.
TI reviewed anti-corruption activity in 37 (out of a total of 39) parties to the Convention and discovered that, with 144 new cases in 2011, the total number of cases prosecuted increased from 564 in 2010 to 708 in all of 2011. In addition, 286 investigations remain ongoing.
International Whistleblower Rewards are being offered to International Whistleblowers that expose international bribery schemes, illegal kickbacks, and government corruption. Under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the new SEC Whistleblower Incentive Program, whistleblowers with original and specialized knowledge and evidence of corporate bribery and illegal kickbacks are eligible to recover large economic awards.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Brazil Finance Minister Guido Mantega Threatens Foreign Capital Tax: Daily Update | The Rio Times | Brazil News
Brazil Finance Minister Guido Mantega Threatens Foreign Capital Tax: Daily Update | The Rio Times | Brazil News
"RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Finance Minister Guido Mantega has chided Western central banks over money-printing and other stimulus measures, and warned that Brazil could impose taxes on speculative foreign capital to avoid its currency strengthening. Mantega reiterated his stance that Brazil would take “all necessary steps,” including “those adopted in the past” to prevent Brazil’s real from appreciating unduly."
"Mantega said Brazil would win further foreign investment through global confidence in its economy – and said that despite the current slowdown in Brazil’s economy, 2013 would be see stronger growth of four percent or more."
"However, it was recently revealed that a forty-percent drop in foreign investments had hit Brazil earlier this year, wiping billions of dollars of the country’s main Bovespa stock exchange."
"Back in 2009, investors were taken aback when Brazil imposed taxes on some foreign investments, which it argued were speculative and harmful to the economy."
"RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Finance Minister Guido Mantega has chided Western central banks over money-printing and other stimulus measures, and warned that Brazil could impose taxes on speculative foreign capital to avoid its currency strengthening. Mantega reiterated his stance that Brazil would take “all necessary steps,” including “those adopted in the past” to prevent Brazil’s real from appreciating unduly."
"Mantega said Brazil would win further foreign investment through global confidence in its economy – and said that despite the current slowdown in Brazil’s economy, 2013 would be see stronger growth of four percent or more."
"However, it was recently revealed that a forty-percent drop in foreign investments had hit Brazil earlier this year, wiping billions of dollars of the country’s main Bovespa stock exchange."
"Back in 2009, investors were taken aback when Brazil imposed taxes on some foreign investments, which it argued were speculative and harmful to the economy."
Brazil Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Brazil Foreign Bribe Lawyer: Embraer Under Investigation by the US | The Rio Times | Brazil News
Brazil Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Rewards and Exposing Bribes from Foreign Multinational Corporations by SEC Brazil Bribe Bounty Lawyer and Brazil Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Whistleblower Lawyer Jason S. Coomer
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and other Anti-Bribery laws prohibit bribes by multinational corporations to foreign officials to obtain lucrative contracts. Confidential Bribe Whistleblowers that properly report these illegal contract bribes, kickbacks, and other corrupt practices may recover large rewards for exposing corrupt practices committed by multinational corporation. If you are aware of significant contract bribes, illegal kickbacks or other corrupt practices by foreign companies and/or multinational corporations, please feel free to contact Brazilian Illegal Bribe and Kickback Whistleblower Reward Lawyer Jason Coomer via e-mail message or go to the following web page on: Brazil Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Whistleblower Lawyer and SEC Brazil Bribe Bounty Lawyer.
Embraer Under Investigation by the US | The Rio Times | Brazil News
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer is under investigation by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on suspicion of violating the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Embraer, the fourth largest producer of aircraft in the world, announced it was undertaking an internal investigation into its operations in three countries in response to the subpoena issued by the SEC.
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act prohibits companies whose securities are listed in the U.S. from making payments to foreign officials “for the purposes of obtaining or retaining business for or with, or directing business to, any person.” It also requires that companies keep accurate records of all their transactions.
If found guilty of a criminal charge the company could face fines of up to, and possibly exceeding, US$2 million. Moreover, individual employees or directors within the company could be fined up to US$100,000 each and imprisoned for a maximum of five years.
The sanctions also dictate that firms found to be in violation of the FCPA could be banned from doing business with the U.S. Federal Government.
This could inhibit Embraer’s reported bid to win a nearly US$1.5 billion deal to supply 100 light attack aircraft to the U.S. military. Frederico Curado, Embraer’s CEO, announced on Friday that he was “confident that it won’t prevent us participating in any bidding process.”
Embraer put forward their Super Tucano jets, which carry a price tag of between US$10-15 million. They are currently among the four finalists in the bidding, and if they win, the deal would not only represent their biggest single-sale of Super Tucanos ever, but also a way into the lucrative U.S. defense market.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
International Equity Funds Southeast Asia: Fidelity $2.4 billion fund vaults past JPMorgan in race for SE Asia cash | Reuters
Fidelity $2.4 billion fund vaults past JPMorgan in race for SE Asia cash | Reuters
Money manager Fidelity saw a surge of cash into a Southeast Asian equities mutual fund this summer, helping it leap past $2 billion in size and overtake a long-time leading rival product from J.P. Morgan (JPM.N).
The inflows underscore the popularity of Southeast Asia at a time when key emerging market economies are seeing outflows. The region of 600 million people has a combined economy of $2 trillion that is boosted by domestic consumption, public spending and a growing middle class.
It also shows that Southeast Asian investors are getting choosier, and gravitating towards better-performing funds.
"It's been a good story to market," Medha Samant, a Hong Kong-based investment director at Fidelity Worldwide Investment, said in a telephone interview.
"Clients are increasingly feeling that ASEAN markets are in a much stronger position to weather a global economic downturn compared to 10 years ago," she said.
Assets of Southeast Asia-focused funds tracked by Lipper stood at $7.8 billion at the end of July, the highest since December 2007. Other offshore funds investing into individual countries in the region managed a further $16 billion.
More than 50 mutual funds focus on Southeast Asia stock investments, nearly double from five years ago, and the inflows for Fidelity and some others such as Japan's Daiwa will help draw investor attention to the region as other Asian countries such as China and India slow. The inflows could ultimately help deepen the region's relatively illiquid markets.
Money manager Fidelity saw a surge of cash into a Southeast Asian equities mutual fund this summer, helping it leap past $2 billion in size and overtake a long-time leading rival product from J.P. Morgan (JPM.N).
The inflows underscore the popularity of Southeast Asia at a time when key emerging market economies are seeing outflows. The region of 600 million people has a combined economy of $2 trillion that is boosted by domestic consumption, public spending and a growing middle class.
It also shows that Southeast Asian investors are getting choosier, and gravitating towards better-performing funds.
"It's been a good story to market," Medha Samant, a Hong Kong-based investment director at Fidelity Worldwide Investment, said in a telephone interview.
"Clients are increasingly feeling that ASEAN markets are in a much stronger position to weather a global economic downturn compared to 10 years ago," she said.
Assets of Southeast Asia-focused funds tracked by Lipper stood at $7.8 billion at the end of July, the highest since December 2007. Other offshore funds investing into individual countries in the region managed a further $16 billion.
More than 50 mutual funds focus on Southeast Asia stock investments, nearly double from five years ago, and the inflows for Fidelity and some others such as Japan's Daiwa will help draw investor attention to the region as other Asian countries such as China and India slow. The inflows could ultimately help deepen the region's relatively illiquid markets.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Defense Contractor False Certification Lawyer and Military Contractor False Certification Lawyer: Defense Industry Faces New Scrutiny of Anti-Corruption Practices - Businessweek
Defense Contractor False Certification Lawyer and Military Contractor False Certification Whistleblower Lawyer Handles Defense Contractor False Certification Whistleblower Lawsuits, Military Contractor False Certification Qui Tam Lawsuits, and False Certification of Military Weapons Lawsuits by Defense Contractor False Certification Lawyer and Military Contractor False Certification Whistleblower Lawyer Jason S. Coomer
War profiteering and fraudulent defense contractors have cost the United States Billions of Dollars through corrupt businesses seeking payment from the government for defective products, services that were never provided, and dangerous products. Relators and Whistleblowers are encouraged to blow the whistle on defense contractors that cheat the government through False Certification of Product Quality, Product Substitution, Cross Charging, False Certification of Services Provided, Charging for Services or Goods not provided, Violations of the Truth-in-Negotiations Act ("TINA"), and Improper Cost Allocation.
If you are aware of a corrupt defense contractor or other large government contractor that is defrauding the United States Government out of millions or billions of dollars and or is selling the United States Defective Goods or Services, please feel free contact International Military Contractor False Certification Whistleblower Lawyer and Defense Contractor False Certification Lawyer Jason S. Coomer, or go to the following web page: Defense Contractor False Certification Lawyer and Military Contractor False Certification Whistleblower Lawyer.
Defense Industry Faces New Scrutiny of Anti-Corruption Practices - Businessweek
"More than 100 defense companies from Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT), the world’s largest arms maker, to Czech military truck manufacturer Tatra AS, face a new test of their anticorruption practices as an independent watchdog puts the industry under examination."
Saturday, August 25, 2012
U.K.-Russia Relations at Stake as EBRD Case Widens | Business | The Moscow Times
U.K.-Russia Relations at Stake as EBRD Case Widens | Business | The Moscow Times
Russia and the U.K. risk souring ties further as authorities are set to clash over potential money-laundering and bribery charges against a former Russian official at a London-based international lender.
Yelena Kotova, 57, Russia's former top representative at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development , is sought by the U.K. for allegedly conducting a money-laundering operation in both Britain and the U.S. over several years, according to a person familiar with the British investigation, who declined to be identified because the probe is still under way. Kotova, who denies any wrongdoing, says she's unable to leave Russia because of a criminal inquiry by local authorities.
Relations worsened to a post-Cold War low after the 2006 assassination of dissident ex-KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko in London . In the Kotova case, the U.K. refused entry to Russian detectives for more than a year. The Russian investigation may end up shielding Kotova rather than leading to a trial, said Mark Galeotti, a professor at New York University.
"Kotova has some kind of protection, in part because she was appointed," Galeotti, who studies transnational crime and Russian foreign affairs, said in a phone interview. "The Russian government had a direct hand in getting her that job, which is why it's embarrassing. On the Russian side, I'm picking up a sense of tension. There are people who are carrying out a serious and diligent investigation and there are people who are instead thinking of the wider political context."
Russia and the U.K. risk souring ties further as authorities are set to clash over potential money-laundering and bribery charges against a former Russian official at a London-based international lender.
Yelena Kotova, 57, Russia's former top representative at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development , is sought by the U.K. for allegedly conducting a money-laundering operation in both Britain and the U.S. over several years, according to a person familiar with the British investigation, who declined to be identified because the probe is still under way. Kotova, who denies any wrongdoing, says she's unable to leave Russia because of a criminal inquiry by local authorities.
Relations worsened to a post-Cold War low after the 2006 assassination of dissident ex-KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko in London . In the Kotova case, the U.K. refused entry to Russian detectives for more than a year. The Russian investigation may end up shielding Kotova rather than leading to a trial, said Mark Galeotti, a professor at New York University.
"Kotova has some kind of protection, in part because she was appointed," Galeotti, who studies transnational crime and Russian foreign affairs, said in a phone interview. "The Russian government had a direct hand in getting her that job, which is why it's embarrassing. On the Russian side, I'm picking up a sense of tension. There are people who are carrying out a serious and diligent investigation and there are people who are instead thinking of the wider political context."
Mensalão Trial Resumes in Brazil to Vote on Four Defendants: Daily | The Rio Times | Brazil News
Mensalão Trial Resumes in Brazil to Vote on Four Defendants: Daily | The Rio Times | Brazil News
"BRASÍLIA, BRAZIL – It is expected that the first verdicts of the mensalão, a sprawling corruption trial involving some of the top figures in former-President Lula’s administration, will be announced Monday afternoon, August 20th, when the case resumes at the Supreme Court."
"Prosecutors charge that public money was laundered through companies linked to advertising executive Marcos Valerio and paid to some coalition members to settle debts and ensure their support for the PT as a “mensalão,” or big monthly payment"
"On Thursday, rapporteur Joaquim Barbosa was the first of the eleven supreme court judges to make a decision, and voted to convict Cunha of passive corruption (receiving undue advantage), embezzlement (appropriating public money) and money laundering, for actions committed while he was president of the Chamber of Deputies in 2003. He also voted found Valerio, Hollerbach and Paz guilty of for bribery and embezzlement."
"According to the Federal Public Ministry, Cunha authorized subcontracting companies for SMP&B, Marcos Valerio’s firm, which had won bids to serve in the Chamber of Deputies. The agency’s work actually represented only R$17,000 of the nearly R$11 million in public money contracted out to them.
“João Paulo Cunha acted intentionally to insert third-party services, aware that the services were not rendered by Marcos Valerio. Such services were completely outside the advertising contract,” Barbosa said, according to Terra Brasil."
"BRASÍLIA, BRAZIL – It is expected that the first verdicts of the mensalão, a sprawling corruption trial involving some of the top figures in former-President Lula’s administration, will be announced Monday afternoon, August 20th, when the case resumes at the Supreme Court."
"Prosecutors charge that public money was laundered through companies linked to advertising executive Marcos Valerio and paid to some coalition members to settle debts and ensure their support for the PT as a “mensalão,” or big monthly payment"
"On Thursday, rapporteur Joaquim Barbosa was the first of the eleven supreme court judges to make a decision, and voted to convict Cunha of passive corruption (receiving undue advantage), embezzlement (appropriating public money) and money laundering, for actions committed while he was president of the Chamber of Deputies in 2003. He also voted found Valerio, Hollerbach and Paz guilty of for bribery and embezzlement."
"According to the Federal Public Ministry, Cunha authorized subcontracting companies for SMP&B, Marcos Valerio’s firm, which had won bids to serve in the Chamber of Deputies. The agency’s work actually represented only R$17,000 of the nearly R$11 million in public money contracted out to them.
“João Paulo Cunha acted intentionally to insert third-party services, aware that the services were not rendered by Marcos Valerio. Such services were completely outside the advertising contract,” Barbosa said, according to Terra Brasil."
Brazilians and Other International Whistle Blowers Can Receive Large Financial Rewards for Properly Exposing International Bribes and Kickbacks
For information on Brazilian Government Bribe Whistle Blower Bounty Actions where international executives, Brazilians, and other international whistle blowers can obtain large financial rewards for exposing international bribes and kickbacks from multinational corporations to government officials, please go to the following webpages: Brazilian Government Official Bribe Bounty Actions & Brazil Illegal Bribe Bounty Action Whistle Blower Rewards and Brazil Whistle Blowers Exposing Bribes to Public Officials From International Corporations
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