One thing that critics of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act constantly flail is the (alleged) lack of individual prosecutions under the law. They claim that if the Justice Department or Securities and Exchange Commission went after more individuals, this tactic would get the word out to the business community not to violate this 37-year-old law. Of course business organizations that advocate this approach also claim that these “rogue” employees were really the ones at fault, and the companies should not be fined or penalized for their few bad employees.
How about naming and shaming? I thought about that concept when I read article in the Sunday New York Times by Gretchen Morgenson, in the Fair Game Column, “Neglecting to Name the Names.” In this piece she criticized a recent SEC enforcement action involving Citigroup over the sale of certain municipal bonds. Citigroup agreed to pay a $181 million fine and did not admit or deny any of the allegations made by the SEC.
