Under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act under what condition

Under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, under what conditions is a bribe not unlawful? Explain, and provide an example.

Solution

Payments made to the foreign officials or parties, intended to facilitate the routine work, are not considered illegal as per the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. For example, payments made to expedite the process of work or payments made to motivate people and they discharge their duties with urgency so that time is saved, are not considered unlawful. These payments are considered as facilitating or greasing payment and it is exclusively mentioned in the act, and well clarified in the amendments made in the act in the year 1988. Such payments should meet the following conditions to be unlawful:

A. It should not affect the final outcome.

B. It is used to expedite the routine work.

C. It is done for the work of non-discretionary nature

D. It does not affect the decisions made by the people or party in favor of the company.

In real world cases, there are red tapism in the foreign countries and or there are multiple windows of business clearances and it consumes time. For example, issuing of the work visas of the group of employees are delayed, transfer of capital goods from one location to another is getting delayed due to paper work, or issuing of the certificate for the basic amenities, utilities and other services are delayed due to lengthy paperwork, Then, facilitating payments are done so that work is done quickly and time is saved.