Brazil leads in bribery scandals in US for first time

01/13/2017 - 13h22

For the first time, Brazil has topped a list as the country most mentioned by global companies that are currently under investigation by American authorities for paying bribes abroad.

The list was elaborated by the FCPA (Foreign Corruption Practices Act), which specializes in the legislation in question.

Companies that operate abroad and are under investigation for bribery mentioned Brazil 19 times. China came in second, having been mentioned 17 times, followed by Iraq, which was mentioned 8 times.

Brazil went from being mentioned 10 times in 2015, to 19 times this year.

The data was taken from the US Department of Justice as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is the entity that regulates the country's capital markets.

A 1977 law prohibits companies that conduct their business outside the US from paying bribes abroad, no matter what country they are in. Behind the law is the notion that bribery undermines competition and harms American investors.

	Editoria de Arte/Folhapress
	The data was taken from the US Department of Justice as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is the entity that regulates the country's capital markets.

"The reason we're on this list is because corruption in Brazil has begun to affect American investors", said Paulo Goldschmidt, a professor at the FGV (Getúlio Vargas Foundation) who conducts an anti-corruption study group.
This is the third time the list has been elaborated by The FCPA Blog (www.fcpablog.com).

China was ranked first during the first two years, having been mentioned 28 times in 2015 and 40 times in 2016. Brazil was ranked second, having been mentioned 10 times in 2015 and 18 times in 2016, while Russia was mentioned 8 times in 2015 and 9 times in 2016.

This year's list takes into account the number of times a country was mentioned in bribery investigations throughout 2016.

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON
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