Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

This act, known to its friends and neighbors as FCPA, does two things.

First, it says that American business folk can’t bribe foreign officials to make business deals happen. This no-no carries no minimum bribe amount, so whether it’s $5 million or five bucks, the briber can face serious financial penalties and even jail time if caught and convicted. And that's a big problem for many countries where bribes are just a normal way of doing business. Hello, Somalia, Indonesia, Malaysia and a bunch of other places who treat their poor like crap.

The second part of the FCPA deal with reporting requirements. Businesses have to follow strict accounting transparency guidelines or risk facing the wrath of the SEC, who wants to be able to clearly see how money moves through an organization...and make sure there’s no shady stuff going on.