或许沃尔玛（Wal-Mart）应该用“法不责众”来为自己辩护。

    零售业巨头沃尔玛被指控为了快速获得开店许可，经常对墨西哥官员行贿。然而，过去几年，被指控涉嫌商业贿赂的美国公司，不止沃尔玛一家。本周三，又有两家公司爆出行贿丑闻。美国证券交易委员会（The Securities and Exchange Commission，SEC）指控摩根士丹利（Morgan Stanley）前高管盖斯•彼得森为了替公司招揽业务，向一家中国国有企业的官员行贿。同一天，传媒业巨头新闻集团（News Corp.）承认，受到电话窃听丑闻的影响，目前美国政府正在对该公司进行贿赂调查。

    目前，至少有81家上市公司因涉嫌违反《反海外腐败法》（Foreign Corrupt Practices Act，FCPA），正在接受美国证券交易委员会或司法部的调查。美国《反海外腐败法》规定，在其他国家行贿将在美国受到处罚。此外，越来越多的公司开始在财务文件中披露，虽然公司尽了最大努力阻止行贿行为，但仍可能存在员工违反美国反海外商业贿赂法规的情况。

    如果没有美国法律的限制，有些公司也许会对行贿的做法举双手赞成。比如，纽约长岛一家工业防护服制造商雷克兰工业公司（Lakeland Industries）近期表示，由于公司遵守美国法律，没有像其他竞争对手一样行贿，结果导致公司销量下降。当然，迫使公司有意申报比实际更低的利润，会计法的存在也是原因之一。

    目前，因涉嫌行贿而成为美国政府调查对象的公司包括惠普公司（Hewlett-Packard）、电信公司高通（Qualcomm）、农业设备制造商美国迪尔公司（Deere & Co.）、化妆品公司雅芳（Avon）、博彩公司拉斯维加斯金莎集团（Las Vegas Sands），以及共和党捐款大户查尔斯•科赫与大卫•科赫旗下的德州科氏工业集团（Koch Industries）。此外，美国证监会正在调查，美国电影制作公司是否通过贿赂手段打入中国娱乐市场。据称美国证监会的调查对象分别是：新闻集团旗下的二十世纪福克斯公司（20th Century Fox）、迪斯尼（Disney）和梦工厂动画公司（DreamWorks Animation）。而美国司法部曾表示，去年其根据《反海外腐败法》立案150起，调查涉及的对象既有个人，也有公司。

    Perhaps Wal-Mart (WMT) should try the "everyone does it" defense.

    The giant retailer, which is accused of regularly bribing Mexican officials in order to quickly obtain permits to open stores, is far from the only U.S. company that has been caught greasing the wheels of commerce in the past few years. Two more examples of that came on Wednesday. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged a former Morgan Stanley executive Garth Peterson with bribing an official of a state-owned Chinese company in order to win business for the investment firm. Also on Wednesday, media conglomerate News Corp. confirmed that it too was the subject of a U.S. bribery investigation, more fall-out from its phone hacking scandal.

    There are at least 81 public companies under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Department of Justice for running afoul of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which makes bribery in foreign countries punishable in the U.S. In addition, a growing number of companies have started placing disclosures in their financial documents that say their employees may at times violate the U.S.'s overseas bribery law, despite the company's best efforts to prevent it.

    Other companies seem to be all for bribes were it not for U.S. laws prohibiting them. For example, Lakeland Industries (LAKE), a Long Island, New York, manufacturer of industrial safety garments, recently said its inability to pay bribes, due to the fact that it, unlike its competitors, follows U.S. laws, has lowered the company's sales. Undoubtedly, accounting laws are also forcing the company to report lower profits than it would like as well.

    Among the companies already in the cross-hairs of the U.S. government for committing bribery are Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), telecommunications company Qualcomm (QCOM), farm equipment maker Deere & Co. (DE), cosmetic company Avon (AVP), casino company Las Vegas Sands (LVS) and Koch Industries, the Texas conglomerate run by prominent Republican donors Charles and David Koch. On top of that, the SEC has also recently launched an inquiry into whether U.S. movies studios have been using bribes to break into the Chinese entertainment market. News Corp's 20th Century Fox, Disney and DreamWorks Animation have all reportedly been contacted by the SEC. For its part, the Department of Justice last year said that it had 150 open investigations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Some of those might be against individuals as well as companies.

    许多公司已经被处以巨额罚款。去年4月，因违反联合国石油换食品计划，强生公司（Johnson & Johnson）上缴了7，800万美元。2008年，哈里伯顿公司（Haliburton）被指控在尼日利亚建立天然气加工厂期间，其原先的一个部门，包括该部门负责人，向当地官员行贿，为此公司缴纳了5.5亿美元罚款。在美国上市的德国公司西门子（Siemens），也因为被指控在全球多个地区行贿，缴纳了8亿美元罚款，这是美国有史以来最大一笔涉及《反海外腐败法》的罚款。2002年至2010年，美国依据《反海外腐败法》对公司提起控告的案件从2起增加到了20起。虽然去年下降到16起，但律师表示，美国政府没有丝毫松懈的迹象。

    最近，FCPA专家理查德•卡森在博客中列出了承认正在接受调查的公司名单。他表示：“很明显，反腐败将成为近期执法的重点。之前，这个法律领域一直比较模糊。但现在各家大的律师事务所都有了在这一领域一展身手的机会。”

    多起调查已历经多年，其中一些最终不了了之。不过在去年，美国再次发起了多项调查。上个月，高通披露，该公司在一月份得知美国司法部怀疑其涉嫌违反《反海外腐败法》，目前正在调查。有证据表明，这家电信业巨头试图隐瞒指控的事实。公司称2009年底，曾有告密者向高通董事会举报。当时公司对此进行了调查，但并未发现不当行为。一年后，该公司披露，美国证监会正在对其展开调查。上个月，公司首次对投资者公开承认，指控与贿赂有关。高通公司对此未予以评论。

    詹姆斯•明茨是一家专门跟踪FCPA案件的调查服务公司负责人，他表示：“告密者比以前更加毫不留情。现在，公司普遍会主动报告违规现象。我们很久都没有遇到过像沃尔玛那样刻意掩盖事实的做法。”

    此外，惠普正在接受美国政府的调查，政府怀疑惠普前任员工涉嫌行贿、盗用公款和逃税，以帮助公司的德国子公司获得在俄罗斯的IT合同。据悉惠普公司员工曾在2001年至2006年期间，向俄罗斯联邦首席检察官办公室行贿。公司表示，美国检察官正在对公司于2000年在欧洲其他5个国家进行的交易进行调查。

    去年夏天，美国证监会开始调查美国迪尔公司在俄罗斯的行贿案。雅芳公司近期撤换首席执行官，目前其在中国的业务正在接受调查。博彩业巨头拉斯维加斯金沙集团称，自今年2月份以来，公司因涉嫌违反《反海外腐败法》一直在接受美国证监会和司法部的调查。

    科氏工业集团旗下的一家欧洲子公司被爆出，为保证公司在印度、非洲和中东地区的合约，该公司向政府官员等行贿。为此，科氏工业集团辞退了多名员工，其中包括最初在公司负责贿赂案调查的道德规范经理。公司最终以从事不法行为辞退了该部门的所有高管。目前，美国监管部门已经介入调查。

    A number of companies have already handed over large fines. Last April, Johnson & Johnson paid $78 million to settle claims that it violated the UN's Oil for Food program. In 2009, Haliburton paid over $550 million to settle claims that officials at a former division, including its head, had bribed officials in Nigeria while building a gas plant there. Bribes at German conglomerate Siemens, which is publicly traded in the U.S., were so pervasive around the world that it was forced to pay $800 million dollars to settle charges - the largest FCPA fine yet. In all, the U.S. government brought 20 cases against companies in 2010 under the bribery law, up from 2 in 2002. The number dipped to 16 last year, but lawyers say there is no sign that the government is letting up.

    "Definitely, anti-corruption has been high up on the enforcement agenda recently," says Richard Cassin, a FCPA expert whose blog produced the list of companies that have disclosed investigations. "This area of law used to be an obscure specialty. Now every big law firm has a practice."

    Many of the investigations are a number of years old, and some many never lead to actual charges. But a number of investigations have been launched in the past year. Last month, Qualcomm disclosed that it learned in January that the Department of Justice was investigating the company for a FCPA violation. And there may be some evidence that telecom giant tried to hide the allegations. The company said a whistle-blower approached the company's board of directors back in late 2009. The company said it investigated the matter, and found no wrong doing. A year later the company disclosed that it was under investigation by the SEC. Last month was the first time it told investors those allegations had to do with bribery. Qualcomm could not be reached for comment.

    "Whistle blowers are more relentless than they used to be," says James Mintz, who heads an investigative services firm that tracks FCPA cases. "These days it has become more common for companies to report. We haven't seen a good old fashion cover up like what appears to have happened at Wal-Mart in a while."

    At Hewlett-Packard, the government is looking into whether former employees engaged in bribery, embezzlement and tax evasion in order to help a former German subsidiary of the company land an IT contract in Russia. The bribes were paid to the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation and may have gone on for 5 years from 2001 to 2006. The company said U.S. investigators are also looking at deals the company struck in 5 other European countries dating back to 2000.

    Last summer, the SEC began investigating Deere for allegations of bribery in Russia. Avon, which recently pushed out its long-time chief executive, is being investigated for its dealings in China. Casino giant Las Vegas Sands says it has been under investigation since February by the SEC and the DOJ for possible FCPA violations.

    A European subsidiary of Koch Industries reportedly bribed government officials and others to secure contracts in India, Africa and the Middle East. Koch fired several employees, including the ethics manager who was initially in charge of the company's investigation into the bribes. The company eventually cleared all of the senior level executives of the division of wrong doing. U.S. regulators are investigating.

    美国证监会近期提交的起诉书显示，摩根士丹利公司曾先后35次向公司房地产部董事总经理彼得森发出通知，提醒其遵守美国反腐败法，并特别说明，向中国上海市一家国有企业官员支付的款项违反了法律规定。然而，彼得森与该名中国官员仍私下瓜分了180万美元。此外，他还帮助自己与该官员与摩根士丹利达成一项非常优惠的协议，从后者那里购买了价值340万美元的资产。

    美国证监会执法部主任罗伯特•库赞尼表示：“彼得森曾两次违反法律规定。他曾秘密向一名政府官员行贿，为雇主招揽业务，并违反其对摩根士丹利客户的诚信义务，为自己谋取私利。该案件证明，美国证监会对于任何违反《反海外腐败法》的行为绝不姑息，尤其是那些故意规避公司内部控制的员工。”

    译者：阿龙/汪皓

    According to the recently filed suit by the SEC, Morgan Stanley gave its executive Peterson, a managing director in the company's real estate division, 35 different notifications reminding him of U.S. bribery laws, including specific instructions that payments to an official of a Chinese state-owned company in Shanghai would be against the law. Nonetheless, Peterson arranged to split $1.8 million in secret payments with the Chinese official. He also negotiated a sweetheart deal for himself and the Chinese official to purchase a $3.4 million property from a Morgan Stanley.

    "Peterson crossed the line not once, but twice. He secretly bribed a government official to illegally win business for his employer and enriched himself in violation of his fiduciary duty to Morgan Stanley's clients," said Robert Khuzami, Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement. "This case illustrates the SEC's commitment to holding individuals accountable for FCPA violations, particularly employees who intentionally circumvent their company's internal controls."