Click on article headlines (underlined) to go to full original article as reported.
LITTLE
CORRUPTION
"Facilitating
payments" “expediting payments” or “grease payments” are “bribes paid to induce foreign officials
to perform routine functions they are otherwise obligated to perform.”
The only countries
which permit their corporations to pay them are the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea, although
they are illegal in every country where they are paid.
Giveaways, gifts, freebies, premiums, promos, tchotchkes,
swag. Every year around this time, it pours in: the pens with corporate logos, the canisters of flavored popcorn, the iTunes
gift cards, the boxes of chocolate, the pocket calendars, the shipments of fresh fruit. It’s the annual ritual in which financial companies say “thank
you” to the people on the other side of their trades, to clients, to journalists. No one seems to be bothered very much by the exchange of small gifts. But you should be. There is overwhelming evidence that
small gifts have a big influence on the behavior of the recipients. A new study from a leading behavioral economist, Ulrike Malmendier
of the University of California, Berkeley, finds that “small gifts may [create] a stronger reciprocal effect than large
gifts,” making the recipients feel even more indebted to the giver. “Thus, not only might size limits be ineffective
in reducing the influence of gift giving…they may even be counterproductive.” Numerous studies among doctors have come to the same conclusion.
"Petty" bribery is an accepted way of life in much
of the world. A person simply understands that he or she will need to "grease the palms" of certain officials in order to
get a business license, a work contract or help with a legal matter...
This type of corruption is a leading cause of poverty.
While many times the amounts of money may seem small - therefore "petty" - the cost is enormous when viewed more globally.
“The forms of corruption reported
[in the Registrar General’s Office] ranged from individuals selling queue positions, selling access to a registration
officer, and selling even the right to be acknowledged and served within the RG’s Office..." Mostsingle mothers...couldn't afford the bribes demanded for birth certificates for their children.
Calling corruption in public service delivery “petty”
minimizes its devastating effects and the high damage it has on the development of societies. Therefore, the term “petty
bribery” needs to be banned from the anti-corruption vocabulary.
Two of the greatest challenges for compliance officers working for multinational
companies are facilitating payments—small bribes or “grease payments” paid to expedite a routine, non-discretionary
governmental task—and gifts, travel, and hospitality. These are challenges precisely because they often seem trivial
to the sales people, and it can be difficult to maintain internal discipline if employees don’t believe there is any
real risk associated with these kinds of potential bribes. In-house experts often work hard to explain that these gateway
issues can lead to a slippery slope of corruption. They persuade, cajole, appeal to the integrity of their audience, and eventually
speak to the risk of violations of law: no country permits grease payments within its borders and most countries have restrictions
on gifts and hospitality that may be given to government employees.
This website is dedicated to providing a reference
source on the scourge that is whirling across planet Earth destroying governments, businesses, cities, families and imperiling civilized
culture by agregating and making available on one site sources of news, analysis and opinion about corruption.
Criteria for inclusion on this site of "BIG
Corruption" cases:
Very High level corporate and/or government official(s) involved;
Very Large amount of money lost;
International financing/aid agency program;
Global impact on numerous countries/businesses/investors; and/or
Classic example that can be used in training/seminarsmajor cases of global fraud and corruption.
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purposes in one single place news and information specifically pertinent to major global corruption in business and government.
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