International Business Law and its Environment Essay

International Business Law and its Environment - Essay Example These bribery fuelled projects have gained Siemens more than $1.1 billion in revenue (Schaffer, Earle and Augusti). In the period between March 2001 and September 2007, about $1.4 billion in about 4,283 payments were shelled out to bribe government officials in exchange for lucrative business deals in different countries which also include high-ranking Iraqi officials who got kickbacks at the expense of the UN. Millions of dollars were also spent to pay up third parties that implicated embezzlement. It was found that there is an atmosphere of tolerance and even the company’s cultural acceptance of the practice in all levels of the corporation. There has been a systematic implementation of this scheme that engaged the members of the organization (ibid). There was a failure by the internal safeguards of Siemens to clean up their business adequately in time prior to the case filed by the SEC to their disadvantage. The main issue encompasses the acts of the company in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) under the United States federal law which punishes bribery of foreign officials. This is in relation to the thrust of the Securities and Exchange Commission to regulate businesses under its jurisdiction. Specifically, the provisions of Sections 30A, 13(b)(2)(A), and 13(b)(2)(B) of the Exchange Act were violated (ibid). The court found in favour of the SEC and granted the highest settlement in this particular area where Siemens has offered $1.6 billion in payment for the fines and disgorgement provided under the law. Out of which, $350 million will go to the SEC in disgorgement, $450 million in criminal fine to the Department of Justice, about $569 million as fine to Germany’s Office of the Prosecutor General in Munich. This is apart from the approximately $285 million Siemens has already paid in 2007 to the Prosecutor previously mentioned (ibid). In the end, the SEC and the State together with the German government on this case through an amicable settlement by the plaintiff and defendant.