These investigations could ultimately lead to fines, suspensions and even jail sentences for corporate managers found guilty of unethical business practices. This should worry finance managers in the region, some of whom regularly sign off on bribes, kickbacks and fraudulent invoices. They probably would be worried, too - if they knew about the new regulations. For the most part, CFOs and other corporate managers in the region seem blissfully unaware of the OECD bribery convention. Robbing 'em Blind Such ignorance could prove costly.
Bribery certainly is.
A top executive at a US oil company in Vietnam calls corruption one of his top two concerns in doing business there. And managers at a European rival estimated their company could raise profits by more than 5 percent if corruption were eliminated. These European executives said they were approached to participate in a corrupt act at least once a week. Indeed, until now, companies that didn't accept corruption as part of doing business were often at a serious competitive disadvantage. But with the OECD convention now in place, finance managers and other corporate managers can cry foul to their government's law enforcement officials if they suspect a rival OECD-based company of unethical business practices.