From Dan Froomkin, writing for The Huffington Post:
WASHINGTON -- Federal prosecutors and financial regulators on Wednesday reasserted their intention to enforce the law that bans the bribery of foreign officials by U.S. companies, despite a clamorous campaign by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups to relax the rules.
The chamber had argued that Congress should rewrite the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a law passed more than three decades ago that has been used as a model for recent legislation in a number of other countries. One main argument of the chamber was that the law, as enforced, lacks clarity as to whom exactly U.S. companies are allowed to bribe, and whom they aren't.
The Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission responded on Wednesday with a 120-page guide to the FCPA that spells out what can get a company in trouble -- and dispels the misrepresentations perpetuated by the chamber's lobbying campaign.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
This is important because it has been known for some time that the DOJ and SEC are exploring/preparing FCPA charges against Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. for bribes paid in the UK to police, prison workers and others.
It is really no mystery who was behind the Chamber of Commerce's desperate attempts to soften FCPA regulations. (cough-Rupert-cough)