Comments on: More re: FCPA, Wal-Mart and Mexico

By: Hugo S. Cunningham

Hugo S. Cunningham — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:26:21 +0000

In a perfect universe, Walmart would be tried before a jury of 12 impartial Mexicans on this question: Did Walmart’s actions, overall, harm or help Mexico? (But if Walmart was bribing officials to hobble competitors, by all means throw the book at them.)

By: Walter Olson

Walter Olson — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:07:45 +0000

The innovation of the FCPA, of course, is extraterritoriality, the idea of asserting American law over interactions that take place in other countries. That the U.S. government is growing accustomed to asserting extraterritorial authority in other areas of law too (e.g. antitrust, terrorism) does not make it any less troubling. The principle would not be that different if Congress began decreeing prison terms for American tourists who smoke pot in Amsterdam cafes (but I probably shouldn’t be giving them any ideas.)

By: Xmas

Xmas — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:48:38 +0000

You do need a law like this, in principle. Really, you don’t want corporations paying most types of bribes. The line between “everyone does this” bribes and ‘corrupting local officials’ is very fuzzy/non-existent, so it’s hard to defend these sort of payments.