Bribery and Corruption in Telecommunications – Prosecutions Under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is used in an expressly extra-territorial manner to address weaknesses in anti-corruption legislation and practices, principally in developing and least developed countries. A range of policies were advocated by international financial institutions and by developed countries that created enormous risks of bribery, corruption, crony capitalism and nepotism in the telecommunications sector through privatisation, licensing of private sector operators. Additionally, by opening international telephony to competition some smaller players were overly enthusiastic in seeking cheap international rates. Prosecutions under the FCPA has resulted in a range of jail terms for individuals and fines paid by corporations for violations paid in a range of countries. The details are set out in the paper