The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 ("FCPA" or the "Act") prohibits U.S. companies, their subsidiaries, as well as their officers, directors, employees, and agents from bribing "foreign officials" and also requires U.S. companies that issue debt or equity to maintain internal accounting controls and to keep books and records that accurately reflect all transactions.

Both the antibribery and the record-keeping and internal accounting controls provisions apply to worldwide operations. The FCPA is enforced jointly by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

Explore further information on the FCPA, Anticorruption, Ethics, Transparency, and Corporate Compliance Programs on the following websites:

U.S. Department of Justice, Fraud Section - Comprehensive information on the FCPA, legislative history of FCPA, 1998 amendments, opinion procedures, and international agreements http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa/

U.S. Department of Commerce - Office of the Chief Counsel for International Commerce, Information on Legal Aspects of International Trade and Investment, The Anti-Corruption Review, the FCPA, and other anticorruption materials. http://www.ita.doc.gov/legal; Market Access and Compliance/Trade Compliance Center, "First Annual Report to Congress on Implementation of the OECD Bribery Convention," Trade Complaint Hotline, Trade and Related Agreements Database (TARA), Exporter's Guides, Market Access Reports, Market Monitor and "Market Access and Compliance-Rule of Law for Business Initiatives", http://tcc.export.gov.

U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) - Information on ethics, latest developments in ethics, ethics programs, and informational and educational materials including OECD Public Service Management (PUMA) http://www.usoge.gov

International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) - Rules of Conduct and Bribery, ICC Commercial Crime Service, and due diligence http://www.iccwbo.org

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) - Anti-Corruption
OECD Bribery Convention, country compliance assessment reports [www.oecd.org/daf/nocorruption]; ANCORRSEB, the OECD Anticorruption ring online, a collection of materials on effective policies and practices http://www.oecd.org/topic/0,3373,en_2649_37447_1_1_1_1_37447,00.html.