Impact of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act on U.S. Business

Highlights

Congress enacted the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in response to widespread questionable corporate payments. The law, which makes offering payments to foreign officials to obtain or influence business illegal, also contains significant internal accounting control objectives and recordkeeping requirements. GAO solicited information from 250 corporations regarding the Act's impact on corporate activities.

Recommendations

Matter for Congressional Consideration

Matter	Status	Comments
Congress should closely monitor the status of U.S. efforts to reach an international antibribery agreement and that the Congress urge the President to actively pursue such an agreement.	Closed	GAO has no information on the actions taken in response to this recommendation.

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Department of Justice	The Chairman of Security and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice should develop alternatives to address the antibribery ambiguities.	Closed GAO has no information on the actions taken in response to this recommendation.
United States Securities and Exchange Commission	The Chairman of Security and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice should develop alternatives to address the antibribery ambiguities.	Closed GAO has no information on the actions taken in response to this recommendation.

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Topics

International Affairs

Accounting systemsFederal lawForeign corporationsIllegal corporate paymentsInternal auditsInternal controlsMultinational corporationsQuestionable foreign paymentsSurveysAudit materiality